Identifying and minimizing abuse of emergency call center services through technology

Abstract

BackgroundTo identify and minimize unnecessary calls to emergency numbers and to assess the effectiveness of call-tracking technology in addressing the problem. MethodsA retrospective, interventional study was conducted of all emergency calls made to Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's national Emergency Medicine Service (EMS) during years 2012–2016. In 2015 a tiered technological intervention was developed and implemented by MDA. The call-tracking technology self-identified harassment calls by call duration and frequency. The system automatically diverted harassing calls to a non-emergency number system in order not to lose any call. The rates of harassment calls were analyzed by shift, region, and season. Trends were compared before and after intervention. ResultsDuring the years 2012–2016, 53,527 shifts took place, and 8.2% (4277) of shifts identified as receiving incoming harassment calls. The evening shift (11.5%), the Jerusalem region (16.9%), and the summer season (9.6%) were most prone to harassment calls. After implementing an intervention using specialized call-tracking technology, the prevalence of harassment calls decreased significantly (from 10.9% to 2.9% p < .001). The Jerusalem region showed the greatest decrease of 92% (from 26.5%–2.0% p < .001). ConclusionsMDA's call tracking technology has been shown to identify and minimize harassment calls and can be implemented by emergency organizations to reduce abuse of emergency call services.