Cell Phones and EMS

[firetender]

I'm curious (Okay, I'm out of the loop!) how is the use of cell phones affecting you in the work you do? Maybe more important, what can you share with us that would help us use them in novel (spelled e-f-f-e-c-t-i-v-e) ways in the field?

 

[ffemt8978]

I'm curious (Okay, I'm out of the loop!) how is the use of cell phones affecting you in the work you do? Maybe more important, what can you share with us that would help us use them in novel (spelled e-f-f-e-c-t-i-v-e) ways in the field?

We use them exclusively to communicate with the receiving hospital to give them our patient reports because we're so far out that we can't reach them by radio. Also, our chief has removed all of the radios from the backs of the rigs so we couldn't do a radio report if we wanted to.

 

[SwissEMT]

The phones which are in the rigs are sometimes GSM. These have shoddy reception at best, thus there have been times where my own personally owned cell phone has been used to call in the PT report. If they would just use Verizon instead, maybe it wouldn't be such a problem.

 

[medicdan]

I may have asked this elsewhere (but didnt see a response), but, generally, are Cell phones considered secure? Is it generally accepted that pt names, etc can be used? I am still in class, and we have been lectured about confidentiality and HIPAA, etc in different contexts-- but no street truths.
Thanks!
DES

 

[KEVD18]

well i dont use pt names in a radio report

age
sex
chief complaint
vitals
interventions
eta

no persoanlly identifiable information necessary

 

[ffemt8978]

I thought I responded to this once before, also - but here it goes again:

Cell phones are generally considered a secure means of communication for a couple of reasons.

1) They are frequency agile which means that it will change frequencies or even towers during the call to improve reception.
2) The frequency ranges that cell phones operate in are in a band that scanners in the US are not allowed to receive. (That doesn't mean the some foreign made/imported models won't receive them)
3) Keep it brief and provide only the necessary info to the hospital. If you don't feel comfortable giving the patient's name during the phone call, then don't. They'll have more than enough time to gather whatever info they need from the patient once you arrive.

 

[medman123]

The phones which are in the rigs are sometimes GSM. These have shoddy reception at best, thus there have been times where my own personally owned cell phone has been used to call in the PT report. If they would just use Verizon instead, maybe it wouldn't be such a problem.

That does not make sense to me. Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) service is almost the same as Verizon, its through a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network and GSM uses GPRS in part of the network. So how can GSM be bad if it uses what verizon uses? It might be that the GMS phone that you have might just have poor reception VS. Verizon in your area.

 

[VentMedic]

Cells phone are usually okay as long as they are not camera phones (which can have a potenital to be abused). Nextel uses "HIPPA compliance" in their ads.

 

[SwissEMT]

That does not make sense to me. Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) service is almost the same as Verizon, its through a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network and GSM uses GPRS in part of the network. So how can GSM be bad if it uses what verizon uses? It might be that the GMS phone that you have might just have poor reception VS. Verizon in your area.

Incorrect. Verizon uses CDMA on most of its' phones. CDMA is more efficient, offers better reception, better security and offers better battery life. If you compare GSM to CDMA, CDMA will blow GSM out of the water in terms of performance. Unfortunately, CDMA does not allow for as many "neat" features which T-mobile, AT&T and the such offer (GSM networks)

 

[medman123]

Incorrect. Verizon uses CDMA on most of its' phones. CDMA is more efficient, offers better reception, better security and offers better battery life. If you compare GSM to CDMA, CDMA will blow GSM out of the water in terms of performance. Unfortunately, CDMA does not allow for as many "neat" features which T-mobile, AT&T and the such offer (GSM networks)

We can agree to both disagree

 

[BossyCow]

We have cell phones in all the rigs, and generally 2 or 3 personal cells on scene. Since we are so rural, it's nice to be able to talk to each other about stuff without tying up radio frequency for things like...since you're going by the station can you grab my bunker gear. Or, remember to grab the wheel for the stokes. Also, since radio transmission can be spotty here, generally we can get through on either cell or radio.

 

[mfrjason]

The phone in the back of the rig is strictly used for communicating with either the hospital when you are coming in with a patient and is also used when you are on the scene of a DOA phoning in a report to medical authority.

 

[Jon]

At the paid event Co... every ambulance crew has a Nextel. The ALS phones have cellular service enable (for medical command). For events... every EMT carries an issued Nextel if there is a POSSIBILITY that they might not be with their partner(s).

At the Vollie Squad - All our rigs have nextels mounted in the front of the trucks for communication between crews and supervisors. We will sometimes use them to call the hospital, but most of us just use our own cell phones because they are close at hand, and our phone calls are almost always < 1 minute anyway.

I always have my personal phone (nextel) with me. I've got the nextel info for all the vollie squad rigs, and most of the members who have nextel. As for the paid company - I've got the nextel ID's for the radios I often use... so when I loose them in the rig, I can call it myself

 

[fm_emt]

We can agree to both disagree

No, he's 100% correct. I used to work as a tech for AT&T Wireless.


We use Nextels to communicate with our dispatch, the Motorola radio to communicate with county communications, and in our county, hospital ringdowns are done by cell phone anyway.

 

[medman123]

No, he's 100% correct. I used to work as a tech for AT&T Wireless.


We use Nextels to communicate with our dispatch, the Motorola radio to communicate with county communications, and in our county, hospital ringdowns are done by cell phone anyway.

What ever makes you happy.

 

[medic417]

Cell phones if can hit a tower. Sat phone if not. Pic phone great for wrecks to show doc damages. Radio when close to hospital.

 

[BossyCow]

So, how many of you have patients making cell phone calls from the back of the rig to get family to meet them at the ER?

 

[mfrjason]

The cell phones we had were our personal ones,none of them were bought by the department or the township,and with the area we were in you would be a lucky person to be able to hit a cell tower since the area was so bad for cell phones.

 

[Anomalous]

I just want one that works... every time. :sad:

 

[bstone]

We use our cell phones exclusively for communication with our receiving hospitals. The Dir of Ops sent out a memo a few years ago that we have to call the receiving ER even in cases where the nursing homes have called ahead and the patient is only being TP'd due to doctor's order, not due to an emergency. My only concern is this uses our minutes and we are not readily reimbursed by management of my private ambulance service.