Saving Time Saves Lives: Optimizing Radio Dispatching in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests.
| Autor: | Riddle TJ; Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Parker County Hospital District, Weatherford, USA., Lane M; Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Parker County Hospital District, Weatherford, USA., Fair R; Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Parker County Hospital District, Weatherford, USA., Bryant R; Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Parker County Hospital District, Weatherford, USA., Bertrand S; Medical Direction, Emergency Medicine, Beacon Emergency Services Team Emergency Medical Services (BEST EMS), Grapevine, USA., Northeim J; Medical Direction, Emergency Medicine, Beacon Emergency Services Team Emergency Medical Services (BEST EMS), Grapevine, USA., Northeim K; Population and Community Health, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, USA. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Cureus [Cureus] 2024 Sep 26; Vol. 16 (9), pp. e70257. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Sep 26 (Print Publication: 2024). |
| DOI: | 10.7759/cureus.70257 |
| Abstrakt: | Objective Activation of emergency medical services (EMS) through radio dispatching in the United States of America is the established first component in the link of the Chain of Survival. However, little is known about how auditory dispatch alerts operationally aid in the recognition and physical response of priority dispatch communications. This research aims to determine if a modification in radio alerting procedures will elicit a reduction in chute times for first responders. Methods This study uses a retrospective pre-post design evaluating the impact on reaction times to cardiac arrest priority p-tones in a semi-urban/rural area. Data were collected by comparing a period of six months before and 10 months after the implementation of a system that replaced p-tones with digitized human speech notifications. The analysis of continuous data to determine statistical significance in response times (global positioning system (GPS)-measured) was conducted using the Student's t-test. For data normalization, Box-Cox transformations were utilized. The interpretation of control charts was used to assess process stability and evaluate the outcomes. Results Of the 16 months of continuous data and 137 case response times for priority alarms, the average response time (GPS-measured) was 29.3 seconds (M = 29.375, SD = 19.69), well below the system target time of 60 seconds. Results of the paired sample t-test show that the mean time did not differ before treatment (M = 27.86, SD = 27.213) and after treatment (M = 30.88, SD = 27.872) at the 0.05 level of significance, t(65) =.802, n = 65, p<.425. 95% CI for the mean difference: -5.384 - 12.617, r =.032. Process control charts indicated a slight reduction in the process efficiency. A secondary finding indicated that radio utilization time was reduced by five seconds due to the intervention. Conclusion Response times for EMS, including the characteristics of the priority p-tone and speech influence, are understudied. This case study introduced a methodology for designing chute time process improvement interventions. Process stability charts bring increased opportunities to measure and manage response times in EMS. Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. North Texas Regional Institutional Review Board issued approval (IRBNET 2029282-1). Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. (Copyright © 2024, Riddle et al.) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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