Application of Geographical Information System Data in the Emergency Department, Effect on Trauma Team and Medical Emergency Team Wait

University of Aarhus599 enrolled

Overview

In the Emergency Department Regional Hospital Horsens a monitor will display Geographical Information System data (GIS data) for all ambulances with the hospital as final destination. The location, estimated time of arrival (ETA) and urgency code for the ambulances will be showed. Furthermore the patient's name, personal identification number and the primary message received by the emergency medical dispatch center resulting in ambulance dispatch will be displayed. This may enable the coordinating nurse to optimize timing of the ad hoc trauma team and medical emergency team activation. The teams are activated if the patient's condition is assessed to be of the highest urgency and/or severity - triage 1 or "red". The coordinating nurse makes this assessment on the basis of information from the ambulance personnel and makes the decision to activate the team and when to do it. In this study the investigators want to examine if the availability of GIS data in the emergency department results in reduced waiting time for the members of the trauma team and medical emergency team. The study will be conducted as a before and after study.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

599

Conditions

All Acutely Ill or Injured Patients

Interventions

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Waiting time

Triage 1 or "red" of a patient indicates the highest urgency and/or severity of illness. If the coordinating nurse at the emergency department assess that a patient on the to the department is "red" the trauma team or medical emergency team is activated. The time is registered automatically in the internal telephone system of the hospital. The patient's time of arrival is registered manually. The time from activation to arrival can then be calculated and is defined as "Waiting time".

Time frame: Time from activation of trauma team to arrival of patient, expected assesment within 1 minute after patients arrival, expected to be presented up to 36 months after assesment .