Annals of Emergency Dispatch & Response Logo

Jeff J. Clawson, MD

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...

Read more

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...

Read more

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...

Read more

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...

Read more

Litigation and Adverse Incidents in Emergency Dispatching

Jeff J. Clawson, MD, Denise Jorgensen, Audrey Fraizer, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Brent Hawkins, JD, Ann Maggiore, JD, NRP, Christopher Olola, PhD

Sep 20, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 2|Original Research, Special Edition

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...

Read more

Is Emergency Medical Dispatcher Low-Acuity Code Selection Influenced by a User-Interface Software Modification?

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

Sep 06, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 2|Original Research

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...

Read more

Comparison of Emergency Dispatchers' Perceptions of Training Experiences with Perceptions of Emergency Communication Center Managers, Supervisors, and Trainers

Jordan Sebresos, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Christopher Olola, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Jeff J. Clawson, MD

Aug 31, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 2|Original Research

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...

Read more

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

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

Aug 20, 2018|Research Posters

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...

Read more

Multi-Protocol Discipline Agencies Use Different Protocols To Process Traffic Accidents

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

Apr 03, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 1|Original Research

Traffic incidents (collisions and crashes) are among the most common call types handled by Emergency Communication Centers (ECCs). They are also among the most complex call types because they represent such a range of possible situations. ECCs that handle calls in multiple disciplines (medical, fire, and law enforcement) may have multiple protocols available for handling traffic incidents because the Medical Priority Dispatch System, Police Priority Dispatch System, and Fire Priority Dispatch System each contains its own traffic and transportation incident protocol...

Read more

Weapons Reported On-Scene by Callers to Emergency Police Dispatch

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

Apr 03, 2018|AEDR 2018 Vol. 6 Issue 1|Original Research

Providing information about possible weapons on scene is an essential objective of police dispatching and clearly valuable to officer safety. However, up to now, no information has been available about how often callers report weapons as "involved or mentioned" in an incident, what types of weapons are most commonly reported, or which incident types most commonly have reported weapons associated with them. The primary objective of this study is to determine which types of weapons are reported most often and on which Police Priority Dispatch System (PPDS®)...

Read more