Diagnostic and intervention tools for emergency medical dispatch
View Patent ↗A system and method assists an emergency medical dispatcher in responding to emergency calls. A computer implemented emergency medical dispatch protocol includes interrogatories for a dispatcher to ask a caller to generate an appropriate response. A diagnostic tool is provided to determine a vital sign of a patient based on a timer and caller relayed information about the patient. An intervention tool is provided to administer assistance and determine a compression rate based on a timer and caller relayed information.
1. A computer implemented method performed on a dispatch center computer to assist a dispatcher when responding to an emergency caller regarding a medical emergency of a patient, the method comprising:
a dispatch center computer providing an emergency medical dispatch protocol to assist emergency dispatchers, the protocol including a plurality of interrogatories for a dispatcher to ask a caller to generate an emergency medical dispatch response by emergency responders;
initiating a diagnostic tool on the dispatch center computer to determine a vital sign of a patient;
the diagnostic tool providing a user interface on the dispatch center computer, the user interface configured to enable the dispatcher to initiate a timer indicative of a start time for a caller;
in response to the timer initiation, the diagnostic tool running the timer;
the diagnostic tool receiving vital sign related data which is input by the dispatcher corresponding to caller relayed information;
the diagnostic tool stopping the timer;
the diagnostic tool determining a rate or interval of the vital sign related data; and
the diagnostic tool determining a patient diagnosis from the vital sign related data and the determined rate or interval of the vital sign.
2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating a determinant value to prioritize an emergency medical response by emergency responders based on the patient diagnosis.
3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool displaying a recommendation on the user interface based on the patient diagnosis.
4. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the user interface providing a close input; and
the diagnostic tool terminating operation in response to the close input.
5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
the user interface providing a clear input; and
the diagnostic tool resetting the timer and clearing the patient diagnosis in response to the clear input.
6. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the vital sign is a breathing interval and the diagnostic tool measures the breathing interval in relation to the timer.
7. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:
the user interface providing an input for each patient breath after starting the timer.
8. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool measuring intervals between each patient breath to determine a breathing interval.
9. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool displaying the duration of the intervals on the user interface.
10. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool displaying the breathing interval on the user interface in relation to time.
11. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool determining a pattern based on the breathing interval and displaying the pattern on the user interface.
12. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the vital sign is a pulse rate, and the diagnostic tool measures the pulse rate in relation to the timer.
13. The computer implemented method of claim 12 , further comprising:
the user interface providing instruction for taking a pulse.
14. The computer implemented method of claim 12 , wherein the diagnostic tool terminates the timer after a predetermined amount of time and further comprising:
the user interface providing a count input; and
the diagnostic tool calculating a pulse rate in response to the count input and based on the predetermined amount of time.
15. The computer implemented method of claim 12 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool displaying the pulse rate on the user interface.
16. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the vital sign is a pregnancy contraction rate, and the diagnostic tool measures the pregnancy contraction rate in relation to the timer.
17. The computer implemented method of claim 16 , further comprising:
the user interface providing input for a current pregnancy number.
18. The computer implemented method of claim 16 , further comprising:
the user interface providing an input for each contraction after starting the timer.
19. The computer implemented method of claim 18 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool measuring intervals between each contraction to determine a contraction pattern.
20. The computer implemented method of claim 19 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool displaying the duration of the intervals on the user interface.
21. The computer implemented method of claim 19 , further comprising:
the diagnostic tool displaying the time interval between each contraction on the user interface.
22. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instruction code to perform a computer implemented method on a dispatch center computer to assist a dispatcher in responding to a caller regarding a medical emergency of a patient, the method comprising:
a dispatch center computer providing an emergency medical dispatch protocol including a plurality of interrogatories for a dispatcher to ask a caller to generate an emergency medical dispatch response;
initiating a diagnostic tool on the dispatch center computer to determine a vital sign of a patient;
the diagnostic tool providing a user interface configured to enable the dispatcher to initiate a timer indicative of a start time for a caller;
in response to the timer initiation, the diagnostic tool running the timer;
the diagnostic tool receiving vital sign related data which is input by the dispatcher corresponding to caller relayed information:
the diagnostic tool stopping the timer;
the diagnostic tool determining a rate or interval of the vital sign related data; and
the diagnostic tool determining a patient diagnosis from the vital sign related data and the determined rate or interval of the vital sign.
23. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the method further comprises:
calculating a determinant value to prioritize an emergency medical response by emergency responders based on the patient diagnosis.
24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the method further comprises:
the diagnostic tool displaying a recommendation on the user interface based on the patient diagnosis.
25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the vital sign is a breathing interval, and the diagnostic tool measures the breathing interval in relation to the timer.
26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 25 , wherein the method further comprises:
the user interface providing an input for each patient breath after starting the timer; and
the diagnostic tool measuring intervals between each patient breath to determine a breathing interval.
27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the vital sign is a pulse rate, and the diagnostic tool measures the pulse rate in relation to the timer.
28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 27 , wherein the diagnostic tool terminates the timer after a predetermined amount of time and wherein the method further comprises:
the user interface providing a count input; and
the diagnostic tool calculating a pulse rate in response to the count input and based on the predetermined amount of time.
29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 22 , wherein the vital sign is a pregnancy contraction rate, and the diagnostic tool measures the pregnancy contraction rate in relation to the timer.
30. The computer readable storage medium of claim 29 , wherein the method further comprises:
the user interface providing an input for each contraction after starting the timer; and
the diagnostic tool measuring intervals between each contraction to determine a contraction pattern.
31. A dispatch center computer system to assist a dispatcher in responding to a caller regarding a medical emergency of a patient, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory in electrical communication with the processor, and having stored thereon:
an emergency medical dispatch protocol including a plurality of interrogatories for a dispatcher to ask a caller to generate an emergency medical dispatch response; and
a diagnostic tool to determine a vital sign of a patient; wherein the processor executes the diagnostic tool to:
provide a user interface on the dispatch center computer, the user interface configured to enable the dispatcher to initiate a timer indicative of a start time for the caller;
in response to the timer initiation, run the timer;
receive vital sign related data which is input by the dispatcher corresponding to caller relayed information;
stop the timer;
determine a rate or interval of the vital sign related data; and
determine a patient diagnosis from the vital sign related data and the determined rate or interval of the vital sign.
32. The dispatch center computer system of claim 31 , wherein the diagnostic tool calculates a determinant value to prioritize an emergency medical response by emergency responders based on the patient diagnosis.
33. The dispatch center computer system of claim 31 , wherein the diagnostic tool displays a recommendation on the user interface based on the patient diagnosis.
34. The dispatch center computer system of claim 31 , wherein the vital sign is a breathing interval, and the diagnostic tool measures the breathing interval in relation to the timer.
35. The dispatch center computer system of claim 34 , wherein the user interface provides an input for each patient breath after starting the timer, and
the diagnostic tool measures intervals between each patient breath to determine a breathing interval.
36. The dispatch center computer system of claim 31 , wherein the vital sign is a pulse rate, and the diagnostic tool measures the pulse rate in relation to the timer.
37. The dispatch center computer system of claim 36 , wherein the diagnostic tool terminates the timer after a predetermined amount of time and wherein the user interface provides a count input, and
the diagnostic tool calculates a pulse rate in response to the count input and based on the predetermined amount of time.
38. The dispatch center computer system of claim 31 , wherein the vital sign is a pregnancy contraction rate, and the diagnostic tool measures the pregnancy contraction rate in relation to the timer.
39. The dispatch center computer system of claim 38 , wherein the user interface provides an input for each contraction after starting the timer, and
the diagnostic tool measures intervals between each contraction to determine a contraction pattern.
40. The dispatch center computer system of claim 31 , further comprising a determinant value calculator stored on the memory to calculate a determinant value to prioritize an emergency response.
41. The dispatch center computer system of claim 31 , further comprising a reporting module to measure the performance of a dispatcher.