Biggest Leap Forward?

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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What advancement in EMS technology has impacted you the most?

Was it the traditional stretcher to powered version?
LifePak 12 to LifePak 15?
Paper PCR to ePcr?
Analog radio to digital?
Wireless internet?
GPS?
Something else?
 
I would have to say the CAD system (Computer Aided Dispatch). It maps us to the calls (not always accurate) but it gives us a lot more detail from the 911 call. We can pull up past calls from that residence, notes about it (hidden keys around the house), copy a call/respond/arrive on scene/stage all without needing to say anything over the radio.

Our CAD system is linked with our ePCR program so information (addresses and times) are already entered in for us on the ePCR. Not a vital task but it does make it nice.
 
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Road safety! .





Jk lol
CAD for sure
 
Switching from paper PCRs to all computer-based reporting. It takes longer, sometimes, but no more bubble forms to fill out!
 
MMiz said:
What advancement in EMS technology has impacted you the most?

Was it the traditional stretcher to powered version?
LifePak 12 to LifePak 15?
Paper PCR to ePcr?
Analog radio to digital?
Wireless internet?
GPS?Something else?
Click to expand...

GPS for sure, we respond to various rural areas, and maybe a quarter of our call volume is in those regions, never the same area twice though. So the days of fumbling through books of maps is over. Plug the address in and go. Even though it may not recognize the house number at times, At least if i can get to the street I can figure it out from there.

Powered stretcher,, wishlist item,
Paper PCR's i didnt mind doing I got such a knack for them that I can bubble form a chart in a few minutes and have it closed by the time we return from the ED.
 
Faster ambulances and accelerated paramedic courses.
 
I would say the method of doing paperwork from paper to electronic. I am kinda bias being IT but can say a true advantage is the billing dept can already start the claim before the paperwork even comes in. In the paper method, doing 200 calls a day was a true slow process. We have reduced it from a week to a day for a claim to be processed. In this money tight world, that is a true plus.
 
CPAP, retractable angiocath, ETCO2, and CAD

In some systems, paper PCR's are faster, and with the ePCR, the system can make you available for calls before the report from the current call is complete. I strongly dislike having to catch up on three or four reports because I get sent out of the hospital for another call less than 5-10 after arriving there, repeatedly. This is not so much of a problem in a rural system with long transport times, though.
 
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Leaving field EMS and becoming a nurse.
 
Not EMS specific, but I think the Smartphone was a huge step forward (though sometimes it seems like a step in the wrong direction).

I could never go back to not having all of the conveniences a smartphone offers. Having the power and information of the internet in the palm of your hand 24/7, productivity apps, entertainment apps, social media apps, etc. I sometimes forget what life was like without it.

Of course, I'm not that old, but I grew up before cell phones were commonplace. Actually. when I was a kid the internet didn't really exist either, somehow people still managed:), but smartphones (when used responsibly) certainly make life much easier.
 
drdroopy15 said:
I would say the method of doing paperwork from paper to electronic. I am kinda bias being IT but can say a true advantage is the billing dept can already start the claim before the paperwork even comes in. In the paper method, doing 200 calls a day was a true slow process. We have reduced it from a week to a day for a claim to be processed. In this money tight world, that is a true plus.
Click to expand...

I hate ePCR's

A report that I could handwrite in 5 minutes, now takes me 30 minutes to do on the computer, half of which is filling out ridiculous NEMSIS data for government statistics.

As far as the billing thing goes, I could care less. But, that's mostly because we're a municipal service, not a for profit private service. We do bill and try to recoup as much of the costs as we can, but we are supported by the tax base and billing isn't a major priority.
 
Sparky79 said:
half of which is filling out ridiculous NEMSIS data for government statistics.
Click to expand...
and this is one of the things holding EMS back. people don't understand why we need to fill out government stats. the fire service has NFIRS, PD has the FBI databases, ever wonder why that was?

wouldn't it be great to know how many patients EMS transported? what calls were most common? what treatments were used most frequently? what interventions were used, and what voodoo shouldn't have been?

If you want EMS research, you need good data. you need complete data. if you want to compete with the big boys for grant money, you need to come to the table with the same amount of information they will be providing. if you want to get new toys and see what works you need to show evidence that it both is used and patients have beneficial data.

and you might not care about billing, but I guarantee your department head does, as does your business administrator, as well as the guy who calculates how much money you have available to put more units on, and give you guys pay raises.
 
Clinically, I'm a big fan of EtCO2. Lifepack 12s are pretty awesome too. Ditto the proliferation of AEDs. Prehospital CPAP has prevented lots of CHF related intubations.

Operationally, 1 1/2 man stretchers vs the old two man cots. Oh, and seatbelts. they really do save lives

System wide, having a CAD with integrated GPS so dispatch knows which unit is closest, can give out cross streets, can send run numbers and times to the units without them needing to keep track or call and ask for them.
 
You beat me to it. Without data, we can't prove our worth.
 
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