Ambulance

Exclusive Interview with IAED Founder Dr Jeff Clawson
protocols and training—translated into 17
languages/dialects—for medical, fire, and
police dispatching. Of those, nearly 200 have
become Accredited Centres of Excellence
(ACE), which ensures the intent and output
of the protocols are realised as designed.
JS: Can you outline a few of the
improvements to EMS globally that
IAED has helped to bring about?
JC: As medical dispatch developed, several
things have become ingrained in the
program and the universality of Protocol is
readily apparent globally. First, emergency
medical dispatch has evolved from an
attempt to stop response abuse by not
sending EMS when it’s not needed, to a
program that prioritises response. Secondly,
emergency medical dispatch has become
properly viewed as part of the medical
care system and as the vital first step in a
multi-step process of emergency medical
care. Thirdly, emergency medical dispatch
has moved the dispatch centre from a point
of EMS control to the earliest point of EMS
assistance. Finally, the dispatcher not only
assists the public, but the EMS provider as
well. Studies have shown that emergency
medical dispatchers, medically controlled
and trained in an internationally recognised
dispatcher triage system, are able to provide
medical triage to incoming emergency
medical calls with minimal error for undertriage
of ALS runs and high selectivity for
non-emergency situations. The assistance
has been explicit in first founding the use
of scripted PAIs throughout the history of
emergency dispatch.
JS: What is the importance of the
partnership between good quality
communications and ambulance
providers in different world regions?
JC: Good quality communications directly
assists EMS organisations in optimising
their resource use, exploring data volumes
and data types, and achieving true insight
and forward vision to improve operational
efficiency. Partnership emphasises a
commitment to encourage consistent
high-quality prehospital care. For example,
a major advantage is the coordination
allowing dispatchers to account for ALL
time intervals from the time an emergency
call is answered at the emergency
communication centre until the units
are back in service. This can only be
accomplished in the spirit of co-operation
and shared vision among various types of
public safety agencies poised to explore
new ideas in the science of emergency
medical dispatch.
JS: Rightly or wrongly, it’s often
claimed that despite it’s great
aptitude for innovation, America is a
country that is too inward-focused.
Based on IAED’s global project
work, do you feel that this is a fair
statement in relation to EMS?
JC: Considering the history of EMS
and the EMS movement in the US, EMS
systems overseas will unavoidably contain
components in common with those in
the US. And EMS, as the science of human
beings in the need of emergency medical
assistance, has many similarities. The US
has a leadership obligation to point out
problems and find the means for their
actual solution. At the same time, we have
to understand the limited applicability of
Western systems to culturally diverse
regions and, with that in mind, develop
solutions in EMS that recognise a number
of components universally required in
every system. In other words, a global
program must recognise basic prehospital
elements that can be integrated into a
universal system beneficial to the total
prehospital care system. A unified (same
core everywhere) protocol system with
approved cultural modifications has been
the clearly successful solution to this issue.
JS: One of the founders of the
EMS2016 Congress and the soon-tobe-launched
European EMS Leaders’
Network, is IAED’s (and Ambulance
Today’s) own Jerry Overton. Does
Jerry’s involvement mean that IAED
views the EMS Leadership Network
as an opportunity for working
even more closely with European
Ambulance Workers?
JC: Of course, particularly since the
EMS Leaders’ Network was developed
to produce and distribute independent
research and analysis, and provide an
international platform with a strong
emphasis on creating global EMS solutions.
Jerry Overton is a natural in the European
EMS Leaders’ Network, considering his
professional background contributing to
his expertise in EMS system design and
deployment strategies. Arguably, he is the
world expert in the science of System
Status Management, sometimes referred to
as fluid deployment. The IAED continues
to add, involve, and utilise European
knowledgeable experts.
JS: And finally Dr. Clawson, do
you have your own vision in terms
of the improvements that could
be achieved if EMS leaders such
as yourself could work with the
European EMS Leadership Network
to bring about innovations in the
areas of dispatch, frontline clinical
care, community medicine, and
operational delivery?
JC: This is an opportunity to discuss
and find international solutions to critical
issues in emergency response through the
cooperation of EMS experts on the global
stage. The EMS Leadership Network will
be in the position to influence future EMS
practice trends, prehospital research, and
to advance quality leadership through the
generations. The international scope of the
Academy has fostered significant movement
in the scientific evolution of dispatch
stands—in protocol, curriculum, logic
systems, quality improvement, and dispatch
centre accreditation excellence—assuring
the protocols are used as designed to get
their full, envisioned effect.
For more information contact the
Academy on:
Telephone: 0808 234 4896
Or visit the IAED website at:
www.emergencydispatch.org
Visit our website at www.emergencydispatch.org
Spring 2016 | Ambulancetoday
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