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Isabel Gardett, PhD

Welcome Message from the Editor-In-Chief

Isabel Gardett, PhD

Aug 13, 2019|AEDR 2019 Vol. 7 Issue 2|Editor's Message

There's a line from a science fiction novel that, to me, captures the drama of applied research. In William Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognition, an unknown person or persons are publishing video fragments online one at a time—pieces of a larger story, discovered at random on hidden sites on the internet. Taken together, these fragments are known as "the footage." In the book, whole online forums are devoted to discovering who is publishing the videos and why. One of the ongoing debates concerns "progressives" versus "completists"...

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Caller's Ability to Understand "Responding Normally" vs. "Completely Alert" Key Question in a Brazilian Portuguese Version of an Emergency Medical Dispatch Protocol

Valeria De Cassia Pereira, RN, EMD-QI, Sara Scott, Maristela Uta Nakano, MD, MBA, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Christopher Olola, PhD, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Srilakshmi Sangaraju, MS, Irena Weight, Daniel Ashwood, PhD, Edward Trefts, MFA, Brett Patterson, Jeff J. Clawson, MD

Aug 13, 2019|AEDR 2019 Vol. 7 Issue 2|Original Research

Alertness is important to assess during many medical emergencies; however, assessing alertness proves difficult in a non-visual emergency dispatch environment. Little is understood about how to best gather an accurate report of patient alertness during an interaction between callers and Emergency Medical Dispatchers (EMDs). The primary objective of the study was to compare two versions of a Key Question (KQ) intended to gain an accurate report of alertness, to determine whether either demonstrates a higher degree of caller...

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Emergency Medical Dispatch Identification of Opioid Overdose and Frequency of Naloxone Administration on Scene

Richard E. Lindfors, NRP, EMD-Q, Byron Shultz, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Meghan Broadbent, MS, Srilakshmi Sangaraju, MS, Rob Lawrence, Danny Garrison, Shannon Smith, Todd Stout, Marc Gay, Mike Taigman, MS, Jeff J. Clawson, MD, Christopher Olola, PhD

Aug 13, 2019|AEDR 2019 Vol. 7 Issue 2|Original Research

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...

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Situational Awareness in Emergency Medical Dispatch: An Observation Study and Proposed Model

Isabel Gardett, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Meghan Broadbent, MS, Christopher Olola, PhD

Aug 13, 2019|AEDR 2019 Vol. 7 Issue 2|Original Research

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...

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Welcome Message from the Editor-in-Chief

Isabel Gardett, PhD

Apr 09, 2019|AEDR 2019 Vol. 7 Issue 1|Editor's Message

In gem cutting, a "facet" is one of the cut faces that causes the gem to shine and sparkle. But facets don't just reflect light. In the words of the International Gem Society, facets "control the entry and exit of light" from the gem. In other words, cutting a new facet—seeing or finding a new angle on the stone—allows the viewer to literally see further into its depths. It's an enchanting idea, and one that, surprisingly enough, applies to this issue of AEDR. In 2013, in the second issue ever of AEDR, we published a literature review...

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Barriers Significantly Influence Time to Bystander Compressions in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Meghan Broadbent, MS, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Srilakshmi Sangaraju, MS, Jeff J. Clawson, MD, Christopher Olola, PhD

Apr 09, 2019|AEDR 2019 Vol. 7 Issue 1|Original Research

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...

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Predicting the Need for Extrication in Traffic Accidents Reported to 911: Is Anyone Pinned/Trapped?

Chris Davis, EMD-I, Paige Dodson, MD, MPH, FAAFP, Chad Pore, MS, Srilakshmi Sangaraju, MS, Meghan Broadbent, MS, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Christopher Olola, PhD

Dec 04, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 3|Original Research

Extrication activities at the scene of motor vehicle accidents (MVA) result in extended scene times and increase morbidity and mortality. Identifying the need for extrication-capable resources during the 911 call-taking process, and dispatching them without delay, is crucial to delivering the required response and patient care. Determining the need for extrication using the Traffic/Transport Incidents Protocol in the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS®) (version 13.0 ©2000-2015, Priority Dispatch, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA)...

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Implications of Pre-Alerts for Medical Emergency Calls

Dawn Faudere, EMT-P, EMD-Q, Jeff Hutchens, EMT-P, EMD-I, EFD-I, ETC-I, Christopher Olola, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Meghan Broadbent, MS, Isabel Gardett, PhD

Dec 04, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 3|Original Research

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...

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Comparison of EMD Selection of Sick Person Chief Complaint Protocol with On-Scene Responder Findings

Richard E. Lindfors, NRP, EMD-Q, Myoshi Bolton, Isabel Gardett, PhD

Dec 04, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 3|Original Research

The Emergency Medical Dispatcher's (EMD's) selection of the most appropriate Chief Complaint Protocol is one of the most important elements in emergency dispatching. Choosing the correct Chief Complaint ensures that the correct information is gathered, the correct instructions and help provided, and the right resources sent. The selection of the MPDS Sick Person Protocol is often one of the most difficult for EMDs. The primary objective of this study is to compare the EMD's selection of the Sick Person Protocol with on-scene...

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Persons Descriptions Reported to Emergency Police Dispatch

Meghan Broadbent, MS, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Chris Knight, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Jeff J. Clawson, MD, Christopher Olola, PhD

Dec 04, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 3|Original Research

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...

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