How accurate is your dispatch?

[cbdemt]

:huh: Another post made me think of this one...

How accurate is the information you are given by dispatch. I'm finding that ours is rarely correct... many times WAY off the mark.

We use the tiered response system (alpha bravo charlie delta echo). I've been told by others on my dept. those levels don’t mean jack. (probably part of the reason we respond lights & sirens to all calls) But some of the info we get is soooo far off at times its scary.

For instance, last Friday morning we were paged out to the interstate for a two semi accident, one had rolled. When we got there, the Orcan man had been run off the road by a drunk in a sedan.

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Do you all run into this as well?
<_<

 

[rescuecpt]

Yup. A lot.

Last Tuesday for example ~

What we heard: Echo response for a male child in cardiac arrest.

What we found: male child who had puked a little.

 

[cbdemt]

wow.

That reminds me of something that happened at my "paid job" a few months ago. I work at the front desk of a large medical clinic where I'm also on the "code team" (technically we are only for cardiac / resp arrest - but we get called whenever the RN's get freaked) ANYWAY.
A lady came running in the front door screaming that a kid had been hit by a car and was pinned under the tire. SO my co-worker called a code and 911 and i ran outside.... only to find a 50somthing man having a seizure.

:blink: she must have worked for county dispatch...

 

[ffemt8978]

The only thing that I really listen to from dispatch is the location, and whether or not law enforcement is on scene. It's the only things that they can really control how accurate they are.

We've all seen it. How many times have you been on scene and the family members are telling you it is a life and death situation for the patient (who is stable and alert), and their only basis for this is their own panic and what they learned watching TV shows like "ER". We had a call like this last night.

Paged out to 17 yoM C/C "Alcohol Poisoning" per law enforcement. Upon our arrival, found patient supine in a stranger's front yard vomiting. We got control of his airway, and kept him awake. When we put him on the cot, his "fermented beverage enhanced" friend tried to tell us that we couldn't put him on the cot because "drunks need to be put on their side so they won't choke on vomit." I replied, "We're the medics here, not you. We know what we're doing." (We had the patient sitting up and responsive, with suctioning standing by.)

As we load the patient into the rig, the inebriated friend tries to climb in with him. I stop him and ask, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to ride with him."
"You a family member?"
"I'm his friend."
"Friends travel in their own vehicles, not my ambulance. Besides, the police officer over there would like to have a few words with you."

 

[MMiz]

I learned to never believe the dispatcher or my pager. We get lots of "Driver slumped over wheel" calls, I've yet to see a real one.

The most frustrating thing is when the dispatcher gives horrible directions, there is nothing worse in my book.

 

[SafetyPro2]

Ours are pretty good most of the time. The problems tend to arise from the reporting party giving bad info to the dispatcher. A few examples:

The wilderness call I posted awhile back was toned as a male with a laceration to the ankle. Ended up being an inebriated male who fell about 30 feet off a trail with an open fracture to the ankle that was almost an amputation.

Last night, PD got dispatched to a "person not breathing". We got dispatched about 2 minutes later to the same call as a "difficulty breathing." Reminded me of the line from the Simpsons "Montgomery Burns was transported to Springfield General, where he was pronounced dead. He was then transferred to a better hospital where his condition was upgraded to alive."

A few months ago, got dispatched for a male with chest pain. Upon arrival, with AED and O2 in hand, I found a man who'd trown out his back a couple of days prior and had severe back pain. His wife was extremely hard of hearing and talking to her was like a bad cartoon. (Me - "Is he taking any medication?" Her - "No, we live alone.")

 

[TKO]

I used to have much of the same opinions as most of you regarding dispatchers. Working on car I would get so frustrated sometimes with the dispatchers bc of horrible directions or c/c. Now that I do dispatching also I have a very new perpective on the whole picture. I don't know how well the US is now with dispatch bc of what I have heard in classes and all, but here we have many "centers of excellence".You really have to expose yourself to the dispatching aspect to make a judgement. We are to follow the protocols and never stray from them. Being a PCP and having a extensive medical background , this is quite hard for me . Sometimes I want to try and "diagnose" on the other end but we have to stick with the given questions and nothing more. As for directions, its easy to pass "blame" on your dispatchers but remember the person on the other end is given the directions and if he says turn on the gravel road past the big green tree and dead dog on the left hand side thats all you get sometimes. I cant speak for other centers but what we get is what you get , its not like information is left out. I was really quite surprised with the course and how we are taught to call take as dispatchers. B)

 

[ffemt8978]

Been there, done that. I dispatched Fire/EMS/Law enforcement for almost two years. I will say this much, if the responding units get the incorrect information, it is because dispatch was given the wrong information.

That being said, I understand how hard it is to stop yourself from being the "telephone medic" and stick to your scripted questions. My favorites were the callers that had "no time" to answer my "stupid questions" because they needed help "right the f*** now!" I make it a point in all my first aid/CPR classes to talk about giving information to a PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point), so that my students know that units are already being dispatched while they're answering these questions.

 

[TKO]

Thats a really good idea in CPR classes to mention dispatchers. In my classes I try to incorporate as much as possible to help the public in dealing with a possible situation. I will definitly be talking about PSAP's too now. Thx

 

[sunshine1026]

I always try to talk about dispatchers in any of the classes I teach, as well, but I will have to remember to tell people about the fact that units are being dispatched at the same time they are still on the phone. Hadn't really thought about it too much before, but I do think it's a good idea and one that I will use.

 

[ffemt8978]

Originally posted by TKO@Jul 7 2004, 04:21 AM
Thats a really good idea in CPR classes to mention dispatchers. In my classes I try to incorporate as much as possible to help the public in dealing with a possible situation. I will definitly be talking about PSAP's too now. Thx

In the very beginning of the class, when I introduce myself, I mention that I have a major pet peeve that they need to be aware of. I tell them that I used to be a 911 dispatcher, and if they don't remember to call 911 when they are supposed to, they will continue to do CPR until they remember.

I do this to reinforce how import this step is, and I explain the reason behind it.

BTW, the longest that I ever had anyone do CPR non-stop in class was 12 minutes.

 

[rescuecpt]

HA! 12 minutes? That's NOTHING. I laugh at a puny 12 minutes!

 

[Rescue1EMT]

At my rescue squad, before you can come off probation you have to observe a minumum of 4 hours in the city dispatch center. It doesn't seem like a lot of time but you really get a sense of what the dispatchers go through.

 

[ffemt8978]

Originally posted by rescuelt@Jul 8 2004, 11:43 PM
HA! 12 minutes? That's NOTHING. I laugh at a puny 12 minutes!

47 minutes is my personal record.

What's yours?

 

[rescuecpt]

It's up around there... I can find some PCRs if you want to be exact... I was just teasing you anyway... I wish none of us would ever have to do CPR again and that all our pt's are PITA's who stubbed their toe.