Opioid overdoses have reached crisis proportions. One response has been to increase the availability of naloxone HCl (commonly referred to by the generic name naloxone), which reverses the effects of opioid overdose. The Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS®) includes instructions by which the Emergency Medical Dispatcher (EMD) can prompt the caller to find and use naloxone on overdose victims. However, these instructions are only provided on dispatch Chief Complaint (CC) Protocols on which overdoses are expected to be handled...
Situational awareness (SA, also called situation awareness) is the ability to take in relevant information about an event in order to understand it and take effective action. Maintaining effective SA as an emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) may be more difficult than in other, similarly complex roles because of the remote nature of an emergency call for help. This study attempts to provide insight on one remote SA situation by reporting on a simulation study in which cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) instructions were provided over...
Rapid identification of sudden out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and delivery of bystander chest compressions in patients with ventricular fibrillation are key elements in the chain of survival. However, time to bystander compressions can be greatly affected by a wide variety of barriers, some beyond an EMD's control. The aim of this study is to identify and quantify the impact that barriers have on the time taken to achieve bystander compressions for suspected OHCAs. This retrospective, quantitative cohort...
In emergency dispatching, pre-alerts are used to send responders to calls prior to getting a final dispatch code. Some studies have showed that pre-alerts can effectively reduce dispatch time for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, potentially improving overall patient outcome. However, there is also a potential risk in running lights-and-siren on non-fully triaged calls. Although pre-alerts have been used for several years, no research studies have demonstrated its benefit, in general. The goal of this study was to determine...
Identification of persons based on verbal descriptions is one of the key skills of police work. Gathering as much description information as possible immediately following the event—for example, at the point of emergency police dispatch—could substantially improve the accuracy of suspect descriptions, the ability to locate missing persons quickly, and other key outcomes of effective police work. The primary objective of this study was to determine what amount and type of persons description information is collected by...
Risk management is an area of critical importance for emergency services and public safety agencies, including emergency communication centers. However, almost no information currently exists regarding litigation against, or involving, emergency dispatch. The primary objective in this study was to characterize the most common types of adverse events, actions, and omissions of action that lead to lawsuits against emergency dispatchers and their agencies. The study was a systematic literature review...
Sick Person (Specific Diagnosis) is one of the most commonly used Chief Complaint Protocols in the Medical Priority Dispatch System™. Within the Sick Person Protocol, the 26-A-1 coding represents a group of patients with no specific identifiable complaint. This vague categorization presents a problem for dispatch systems and EMS responders alike, since so little is captured about the patient's true condition. The objective of this study was to determine whether changing the order of the "No" answer choice on the...
Training that aligns with learners' expectations and preferences can help improve job satisfaction and reduce turnover. Previously published results described the preferences of supervisors and trainers. However, little is known about emergency dispatchers' own preferences and expectations regarding training topics, styles, or delivery methods. The objective of this study was to describe the training methods and topics emergency dispatchers find most effective, what characteristics define successful versus unsuccessful...
Opioid overdoses have reached critical proportions in the United States of America (USA or US) and worldwide. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that more than 90 Americans die every day from opioid overdose, and the epidemic was recently declared a national public health emergency. One response to the crisis has been to increase the availability of naloxone HCl (commonly referred to by the brand name NARCAN), a treatment that reverses the effects of opioid overdose when injected or inhaled. The Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS®) version 13.0 includes instructions...
