The 999 RESPOND-2 study, which is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), aims to improve decision-making around whether to send Enhanced and Critical Care Teams (ECCT’s) to emergency calls.
These specialist teams can deliver advanced care for seriously ill and injured patients at the scene of an incident.
Ambulance Services across the United Kingdom are under pressure to make the best use of resources whilst managing increased demand on the ‘999’ service.
This research will help services make efficient use of critical care teams across the entire system, as ECCT’s are a valuable and limited resource that would normally be dispatched only to the most appropriate incidents.
At present, it is difficult for clinicians based in control rooms to fully capture the complexity and volume of information they need to make the best decision.
Advances in technology have enabled ambulance services to test live-stream video from callers’ smart phones during an emergency call, to help ambulance staff assess quickly and accurately how urgently help is needed for an unwell patient.
Professor Nigel Rees, Assistant Director of Research and Innovation at the Welsh Ambulance Service, said: “We’re studying how emergency critical care teams size up risk and severity in high pressure and time sensitive situations.
“We are doing this by comparing video consultation calls, where clinicians can see the patient, the accident scene and other factors as opposed to traditional 999 calls, where the clinician can only make a decision based on descriptions from the caller.
“We hope to learn more about who sees what, who says what and how these decisions shape emergency response when seconds matter and really can be the difference between life and death.
“From Major trauma to severe medical emergencies, Enhanced Critical Care Teams are integral to prehospital and emergency services, but they are a finite resource.”
The study is the first to consider the impact of live-stream video in how people communicate with each other in 999 calls and to provide evidence on whether live-stream videos can overcome some limitations of audio 999 calls.
At present, there is no training manual or guidelines for staff on how to best use live-stream video to communicate. The 999RESPOND-2 study aims to address those shortfalls.
Dr Matthew Booker, a GP and Associate Professor in Urgent Care and Primary Care at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, said: “While this study is focusing on using the technology available in most peoples’ mobile phones to support ambulance dispatch, there are important considerations for remote decision-making in healthcare more generally. Alongside the innovative research methods being used, we will be working with community representatives to explore broader issues such as digital exclusion in the Smart Phone era.”