Emergency Medicine: Open Access
Open Access
ISSN: 2165-7548
ISSN: 2165-7548
Joanne Sun
Tanzania
Research Article
An Emergency Department Paramedic Staffing Model Significantly Improves EMS Transport Unit Offload Time - A Novel Approach to an ED Crowding Challenge
Author(s): Salvatore Silvestri, Joanne Sun, Scott Gutovitz, George Ralls and Linda PapaSalvatore Silvestri, Joanne Sun, Scott Gutovitz, George Ralls and Linda Papa
Objective: We assessed the impact of emergency department (ED) paramedic staffing on emergency medical services (EMS) unit offload time, an intervention designed to assist with EMS unit patient offload when the ED is at full bed capacity. Methods: This prospective pre/post intervention study assessed patients offloaded via the regional EMS system at an urban tertiary care teaching hospital. Three groups were compared: 1) a pre-paramedic group with data obtained prior to any paramedics staffing the ED; 2) a transition (control) group with data obtained during paramedic orientation; and 3) a post-paramedic group with data measured after paramedics were staffing the ED. Research assistants stationed in the ambulance bay of the ED enrolled a convenience sample of patients for seven consecutive days and recorded offload time as patients were brought in by EMS. The primary outcome measure w.. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2165-7548.1000221