Safety of Tiered-Dispatch for 911 Calls for Abdominal Pain
General Material Designation
[Article]
First Statement of Responsibility
Abramson, Tiffany M.; Sanko, Stephen; Kashani, Saman; Eckstein, Marc
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
Introduction: Many dispatch systems send Advanced Life Support (ALS) resources to patientscomplaining of abdominal pain even though the majority of these incidents require only Basic LifeSupport (BLS). With increasing 911-call volume, resource utilization has become more important toensure that ALS resources are available for time-critical emergencies. In 2015, a large, urban firedepartment implemented an internally developed, tiered-dispatch system. Under this system, patientsreporting a chief complaint of abdominal pain received the closest BLS ambulance dispatched aloneemergency if located within three miles of the incident. The objective of this study was to determine thesafety of BLS-only dispatch to abdominal pain by determining the frequency of time-sensitive events.
SET
Date of Publication
2019
Title
Western Journal of Emergency Medicine: Integrating Emergency Care with Population Health
Volume Number
20/6
PERSONAL NAME - PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY
Entry Element
Abramson, Tiffany M.; Sanko, Stephen; Kashani, Saman; Eckstein, Marc