Feedback on emergency medical dispatching – the ambulance crew experience of a computer based feedback system

Introduction The emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) has an important role as the first medical contact in the emergency response system. It's crucial for the EMD to avoid inappropriate assignment of low acuity and thereby cause delay in the ambulance response. However, it is also important to avoid overtriage in the assessment of the call. There is a lack of studies concerning feedback systems to evaluate the assessment of the EMD. The aim of this study is to develope a computer assisted feedback system between emergency medical dispatch centre and ambulances in Stockholm and to evaluate the system from the users view. The feedback system was built around Zenit, Paratus Pocket (touch screen workstations in ambulances) and the Medical Index.