Abstract
BackgroundIn prehospital emergency medical services, one of the key factors in the successful delivery of appropriate care is the efficient management and supervision of the area’s emergency medical services units. Paramedic field supervisors have an important role in this task. One of the key factors in the daily work of paramedic field supervisors is ensuring that they have enough of the right type of information when co-operating with other authorities and making decisions. However, a gap in information sharing still exists especially due to information overload. The aim of this study was to find out what type of critical information paramedic field supervisors need during multi-authority missions in order to manage their emergency medical services area successfully. The study also investigated both the flow of information, and interactions with the paramedic field supervisors and the differences that occur depending on the incident type.MethodsTen paramedic field supervisors from four Finnish rescue departments participated in the study in January–March 2012. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews based on three progressive real-life scenarios and a questionnaire. Data were analysed using deductive content analysis. Data management and analysis were performed using Atlas.ti 7 software.ResultsFive critical information categories were formulated: Incident data, Mission status, Area status, Safety at work, and Tactics. Each category’s importance varied depending on the incident and on whether it was about information needed or information delivered by the paramedic field supervisors. The main communication equipment used to receive information was the authority radio network (TETRA). However, when delivering information, mobile phones and TETRA were of equal importance. Paramedic field supervisors needed more information relating to area status.ConclusionsParamedic field supervisors communicate actively with EMS units and other authorities such as Emergency Medical Dispatch, police, and rescue services during the multi-authority incidents. This study provides knowledge about the critical information categories when receiving and sharing the information to obtain and maintain situational awareness. However, further research is needed to examine more the information flow in prehospital emergency care to enable a better understanding of required communication in situational awareness formation.
Highlights
In prehospital emergency medical services, one of the key factors in the successful delivery of appropriate care is the efficient management and supervision of the area’s emergency medical services units
Findings relating to information flow and critical information categories, and their differences between the scenarios, are first described
Critical information categories Five critical information categories were identified from the data: Incident data, Mission status, Area status, Safety at work, and Tactics
Summary
In prehospital emergency medical services, one of the key factors in the successful delivery of appropriate care is the efficient management and supervision of the area’s emergency medical services units. One of the key factors in the daily work of paramedic field supervisors is ensuring that they have enough of the right type of information when co-operating with other authorities and making decisions. The aim of this study was to find out what type of critical information paramedic field supervisors need during multi-authority missions in order to manage their emergency medical services area successfully. In Finland this is the task of the paramedic field supervisor (PFS) They need to ensure an adequate number of EMS units in their designated area and they have an important EMS leadership role in cases where several EMS units are needed and/or multi-authority incidents [1,2]. PFS are required to make a great number of decisions rapidly, and in most cases, under pressure These decisions depend on their situational awareness (SA) [3]. Decisions based on low-grade information can lead to poor patient outcomes and/or risks to rescuers [3]
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