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
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.
Face, Arm, Speech, Time (FAST) public awareness campaigns improve stroke recognition in the general population. Whether this translates into improved emergency medical services (EMS) activation remains unclear. We assessed the effect of five consecutive FAST campaigns on EMS calls for suspected strokes in Quebec, Canada.
Public safety communicators (e.g., 911, police, fire, and ambulance call-takers), like many other public safety personnel (e.g., police, fire) suffer operational stress injuries (OSIs) that are too often hidden, and at rates that are higher than the general population. Unfortunately, there are very little data for OSI rates in Canadian communicators, and no known pan-Canadian studies focusing on organizational culture and its potential influence on OSIs, within the communicator context.
With several agencies represented at the 2021 Communication Center Manager class, there was a common theme of short staffing. While there are several facets to staffing in the Emergency Communications Center (ECC), for this study we chose to focus on finding the best candidate. Our definition of the best candidate is successful in training and stays for at least the duration of their initial certification period, typically two years.
Just like most things that are good for you, there are some drawbacks. Most energy drinks list caffeine and vitamins as their main ingredients. Therefore, they sound healthy but that may not be the case.
Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) is the newest technology allowing the general public to share richer, more detailed data, such as videos, images, and text messages with a 9-1-1 call center. NG9-1-1 enhances the ability of 9-1-1 call centers to better communicate with each other and improves overall system resiliency, however, what are the adverse effects of this technology on our telecommunicators’ mental wellbeing?
Profuse sweating can be an early symptom of an ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Early recognition by EMD could reduce time to treatment and improve patient outcomes.
Benchmarking for Public Safety Communication Centers (PSCCs) is relatively new. Recently, professional associations have been working on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to identify a number of performance metrics for call taking, dispatching, technology, quality assurance and administration.
Large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke is the most severe form of ischemic stroke. Early recognition of LVO stroke by EMD could reduce time-to-treatment and improve patient outcomes. With the most recent versions of the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS), EMD use its Stroke Diagnostic Tool (SDxT) to assess patients when a stroke is suspected.
High job demands mean high turnover for public safety telecommunicators (also known as: 9-1-1 call-operators or emergency dispatch). Personnel turnover place 9-1-1 call centers in an understaffed situation, which also reduces operational effectiveness and risk to communities.
At the start of the pandemic in 2020, all non-essential businesses closed, including swim lessons. When Florida reopened, tourists quickly resumed visiting. Osceola County, located in Central Florida, noticed an influx of drowning and near-drowning calls. Several agencies and organizations reported an increase of drownings in 2021, up to 98 from 69 in 20201. In addition to the COVID-related stress, the drownings were taking their toll on first responders’ mental health.
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