Emergency medical dispatch technologies: Addressing communication challenges and coordinating emergency response in low and middle-income countries.

Autor: Friesen J; Trek Medics International, Washington, DC., Kharel R; Division of Global Emergency Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI., Delaney PG; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH; LFR International, Makeni, Sierra Leone. Electronic address: delanep@ccf.org.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Surgery [Surgery] 2024 Jul; Vol. 176 (1), pp. 223-225. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 11.
DOI: 10.1016/j.surg.2024.02.031
Abstrakt: A majority of emergency response in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) without formal emergency medical services (EMS) rely on uncoordinated layperson first responders (LFRs) to respond to emergencies using readily available mobile phones and private transport. Although formally trained LFRs are an important foundation for nascent emergency medical services (EMS) development, without coordination by standardized emergency medical dispatch (EMD) systems, LFR response is limited to witnessed emergencies, which provides significant but incomplete coverage. After training and equipping LFRs, EMD implementation using telecommunications technologies is the next step in formal EMS development and is essential to coordinate response, given the impact of timely prehospital response, intervention, and transportation on reducing morbidity/mortality. In this paper, we describe the current state of dispatch technologies used for emergency response in LMICs, focusing on the role of communication technologies, current approaches, and challenges in communication, and offer potential strategies for future development.
(Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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