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Christopher Olola, PhD

Predictability of Poor Patient Outcomes for Adult New-Onset Seizures Using the Medical Priority Dispatch System

Rich Lindfors, EDQ, EMD-I, Bryon Schultz, NRP, EDQ-I, EMD-I, Gregory Scott, MBA, EDQ, Christopher Olola, PhD

May 02, 2023|Research Posters

Studies suggest cardiac arrest risk associated with abnormal seizure-like activity increases with age, particularly in patients aged 35 or over. To account for this increased risk, there may be a need to add a new MPDS determinant code with a higher priority designation—probably one at the DELTA level.

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Welcome Message from the Editor-In-Chief

Christopher Olola, PhD

Aug 03, 2013|AEDR 2013 Vol. 1 Issue 2|Editor's Message

The Annals of Emergency Dispatch and Response EDR journal is now on its feet and moving forward! Tons of thanks to the exemplary editorial leadership, peer-reviewers, and researchers for their tremendous input in establishing the journal. As we all (now) appreciate, establishing a peer-reviewed scientific journal of this nature and magnitude is no trivial task—I salute you all!

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Monitoring Potential COVID-19 Cases Using the EIDS Tool

Christopher Olola, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Matthew Miko, JD

Apr 20, 2022|Research Posters

The speedy spread of the global outbreak of COVID-19 called for rapid deployment of tools to monitor its trends. In January 2020, the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch® (IAED) released an official statement about the novel coronavirus with specific guidelines for our Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS)-user agencies to use the Emerging Infectious Disease Surveillance (EIDS) Tool for Sick Person (Protocol 26), Breathing Problems (Protocol 6), and other Chief Complaints where the caller offers information leading the emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) to suspect a respiratory-type illness.

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911 Caller-Described Heart Attack Symptoms

Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Christopher Olola, PhD, Brett Patterson, Chris Davis, EMD-I, Joleen Quigg, Matthew Miko, JD, Richard Lindfors, NRP EMD-I, Jayme Tidwell, Kevin Pagenkop, ED-Q, John Lofgren, ED-Q, Jaci Fox, ENP, Jeff Clawson, MD

Apr 20, 2022|Research Posters

Research has showed that heart attacks present clinically with varying symptoms; and those symptoms are not always described by patients as chest pain or chest discomfort. Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMDs) using the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS™) are trained to select the Chest Pain/Chest Discomfort Protocol for non-chest pain heart attack symptoms or classic heart attack complaint of chest pain/chest discomfort. Nevertheless, it is still unknown how often callers report heart attack symptoms other than chest pain/chest discomfort, including what specific words/phrases they use to describe

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Caller’s ability to understand “responding normally” vs. “completely alert” key question in a north American English version of an emergency medical dispatch protocol

Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Christopher Olola, PhD, Chris Davis, EMD-I, Bryon Schultz, BA, Charles Gipson, MA, Jean Early, BS, Jeff Clawson, MD

Apr 20, 2022|Research Posters

The difficulty of evaluating the mental status, particularly alertness, is more pronounced in the medical dispatch context, where the Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) must work through the eyes and ears of the caller, who is most likely a layperson. Determining true non-alertness and the level of its effects on outcome needs to be solved to perfect the interrogation and response-coding processes at dispatch.

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EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION NURSES’ ABILITY TO CORRECTLY SELECT ABDOMINAL PAIN AS THE APPROPRIATE PROTOCOL IN TELEPHONIC NURSE TRIAGE SYSTEM

Mark Conrad Fivaz, MD, Jeff J. Clawson, MD, Christopher Olola, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Matt Zavadsky, MS, Gigi Marshall, MSN, Elaine Messerli, BSN, RN

Aug 04, 2021|Research Posters

The primary objective of this study was to determine the ability of an Emergency Communication Nurse (ECN) to appropriately identify the Abdominal Pain Chief Complaint Protocol to use to triage patients in low-acuity cases. The secondary objectives were to establish the most frequently used primary triage code (Medical Priority Dispatch System™ (MPDS®) Determinant Codes), triggering the use of the Abdominal Pain Chief Complaint Protocol in the Emergency Communication Nurse System™ (ECNS™), as well as the percentage of these calls resulting in a Recommended Care Level (RCL) of “emergency a

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ABILITY OF LAYPERSON CALLERS TO APPLY A TOURNIQUET FOLLOWING PROTOCOL-BASED INSTRUCTIONS FROM AN EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCHER

Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Christopher Olola, PhD, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Daniel Ashwood, PhD, Meghan Broadbent, MS, Srilakshmi Sangaraju, MS, Paul Stiegler, MD, Mark Conrad Fivaz, MD, Jeff J. Clawson, MD

Aug 04, 2021|Research Posters

The overall objective of the study was to determine whether layperson callers can effectively stop simulated bleeding using an improvised or a commercial tourniquet, when provided with scripted instructions via phone from a trained protocol-aided EMD.

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Factors Contributing to Emergency Dispatcher Levels of Stress

Kate Wahlgren, EMD, Andre Jones, PhD, Audrey Fraizer, Christopher Olola, PhD, Dawn Faudere, EMT-P, EMD-Q, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Marc Gay, Mike Taigman, MS, Ronald Williscroft, QI, EMD

Aug 04, 2021|Research Posters

Studies have cited dispatcher claims of significant emotional, mental, and physical stress as a result of their work, however, there is very little literature that ranks in order of prevalence or severity the factors contributing to overall stress specific to emergency dispatchers. The aim of this study is to collect data that will complement other research findings in this field to inform the development of new programs designed to address specific factors contributing to dispatch stress and build better psychological health among this group.

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