Hospital and emergency ambulance link: using IT to enhance emergency pre-hospital care.

Emergency ambulances traditionally inform receiving hospitals of impending arrival of patients only in instances of load and go situations, which on average constitute less than 5% of ambulance runs. Information transmitted is usually sparse. For all other runs, information is made available only on arrival at the emergency department (ED). There have also been numerous limitations associated with voice transmissions.A comprehensive electronic ambulance case record was created as a pilot project in Singapore between three emergency ambulances and the busiest ED there. All information captured by the ambulance crew, including vital signs information and ECGs was entered or downloaded onto a ruggardised PC in the ambulance and this complete ambulance record was transmitted to the ED. Transmission was wireless via the public mobile data network. A 3-month analysis of this pilot run revealed the following. (1) It was possible to capture a complete ambulance case record electronically at a mean time of 94 s vs 7 min 7 s for the traditional written record. (2) Air transmission time for data was approximately 4 s unless ECG wave forms were also transmitted resulting in transmission times frequently exceeding 60 s. (3) At least 68% of data was transmissible in 75% of Hospital & Emergency Ambulance Link (HEAL) ambulances as opposed to only 25% in less than 5% of non-HEAL ambulances. (4) Paramedics' time in the ED decreased from 15 to 8 min as a result of HEAL. (5) The waiting time for critical care patients to be seen at the ED decreased from 35 to 17 min if brought by HEAL ambulances.(6) The HEAL system was able to effectively prompt paramedics in carrying out critical aspects of treatment in close to 100% of instances. (7) The pilot HEAL system was able to demonstrate a limited amount of automated audit of specific aspects of ambulance runs. Having demonstrated the feasibility of the HEAL system, it is a matter of time before enhanced features such as electronic data collection at patient site, voice activated data entry, transmission of data from site, automated ambulance audits and an enhanced level of professional care in the ambulances become common-place reality.