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Nancy Roller

Evaluating the Effect of Proper Use of "Tell Me Exactly What Happened" on Chief Complaint Selection and Information Gathering at Emergency Police Dispatch

Steve Zenes, ENP, CMCP, Nancy Roller, Christopher Olola, PhD, Greg Scott, MBA, EMD-QI, Isabel Gardett, PhD, Paul Stiegler, MD, Richard E. Lindfors, NRP, EMD-Q

May 29, 2020|AEDR 2020 Vol. 8 Issue 1|Original Research

When evaluating the information provided by 911 callers, Emergency Police Dispatchers (EPDs) use scripted protocols to ensure that important details are not missed and that questions are not omitted. Specifically, at the beginning of the call, EPDs ask callers to "Tell me exactly what happened" (TMEWH). Since EPDs must select the correct Chief Complaint (CC) Protocol based on the caller's response, getting a complete response to TMEWH—and interpreting it correctly—is one of the most significant elements of an EPD's job. However, no studies have yet evaluated the use of TMEWH in gathering...

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Evaluating the Effect of Proper Use of "Tell Me Exactly What Happened" Case Entry Questions on Chief Complaint Selection and Information Gathering at Emergency Police Dispatch

Steve Zenes, ENP, CMCP, Nancy Roller

May 08, 2019|Original Research, Poster Abstracts, Research Posters, Research Workshop

The most critical and difficult part of the Emergency Police Dispatcher's (EPD) job may be the gathering of the initial problem description, which uses a scripted Protocol Case Entry Question (CEQ) but also requires interpretation on the part of the EPD. Specifically, at the beginning of the call, the EPD asks the caller the CEQ "Ok, tell me exactly what happened" (TMEWH). Based on the caller's response, the EPD selects a Chief Complaint (CC) Protocol—a specific protocol that provides the prompts to drill down into the caller's situation—the primary reason for calling 911. Selecting the wrong...

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