In emergency medical transport, “time to definite care” is very important. Emergency medical services and transport medicine agencies have several possible vehicle options for interfacility transfers. Use of a land vehicle, helicopter, or fixed wing aircraft will be dependent on patient condition, distance between sending and receiving hospitals, crew configuration and capabilities, and other factors such as weather and road conditions. This thesis lays out the complex process of patient transfers and highlights the challenges in decision making under time pressure; it then describes the behaviour of human operators in estimating time to definite care. To support the operators in choosing a transportation mode, a decision support tool was built, which provides relevant time estimates for interfacility transfers based on historical dispatch and call data. The goal is to enable operators to make evidence-based decisions on vehicle allocation. A prototype interface was generated and was evaluated through a usability study.

In emergency medical transport, “time to definite care” is very important. Emergency medical services and transport medicine agencies have several possible vehicle options for interfacility transfers. Use of a land vehicle, helicopter, or fixed wing aircraft will be dependent on patient condition, distance between sending and receiving hospitals, crew configuration and capabilities, and other factors such as weather and road conditions. This thesis lays out the complex process of patient transfers and highlights the challenges in decision making under time pressure; it then describes the behaviour of human operators in estimating time to definite care. To support the operators in choosing a transportation mode, a decision support tool was built, which provides relevant time estimates for interfacility transfers based on historical dispatch and call data. The goal is to enable operators to make evidence-based decisions on vehicle allocation. A prototype interface was generated and was evaluated through a usability study.

No description available.

SAMMANFATTNING Ambulanssjukvården har på några decennier gått från att vara en transportorganisation till en egen specialitet inom sjuksköterskeyrket. Under början av 2000-talet utvecklades ett radiokommunikationssystem, Rakel, för samhällsinstanser som arbetar med skydd och säkerhet. Huvudmotiv bakom införandet av Rakel var att öka medborgarnas trygghet. Med systemet skulle fler liv kunna räddas samtidigt som samhällsekonomin skulle komma att gynnas, och idag används Rakel av ambulanssjukvården i alla Sveriges landsting/regioner. För ambulanssjuksköterskan är Rakel ett centralt system, då denne i sina arbetsuppgifter har hantering av kommunikationsutrustning, samverkan och ledning av sjukvårdsinsatser. Ambulanssjuksköterskan är samtidigt ansvarig för den vård som ges samt för upprätthållandet av patientsäkerheten, vilket gör det intressant att veta hur ambulanssjuksköterskorna upplever att Rakel påverkar patientsäkerheten. Kunskaperna på området tycks idag vara begränsade. Syftet var att beskriva ambulanssjuksköterskors upplevelse av Rakel ur ett patientsäkerhetsperspektiv. En kvalitativ intervjustudie genomfördes där tio ambulanssjuksköterskor berättade om sina upplevelser utifrån studiens syfte i semistrukturerade intervjuer. Den data som samlades in bearbetades med manifest innehållsanalys. I resultatet beskrev ambulanssjuksköterskorna hur de använde Rakel för kommunikation med larmcentralen, annan ambulanspersonal och samverkan med andra instanser. Upplevelsen var att brister fanns i kompetensen kring Rakel, vilket fick till följd att systemets fulla potential ej utnyttjades. Den utbildning och övning inom Rakel som ambulanssjuksköterskorna erhållit upplevdes som otillfredsställande och samövning med räddningstjänst, polis och akutmottagning efterfrågades. Samtliga ambulanssjuksköterskor beskrev Rakel som i grunden positivt för patientsäkerheten, där snabb och effektiv kommunikation i det vardagliga arbetet möjliggjordes. Täckningen och möjligheten att föra krypterade samtal med bevarande av sekretessen upplevdes som positivt. Ambulanssjuksköterskorna upplevde dock att patientsäkerheten kunde hotas, då utrustningen var förlegad och trasig, kompetensen var bristfällig och sekretessen hotades av att privat avsedda samtal hördes på publika talgrupper. Det framkom att ambulanssjuksköterskorna upplevde en attityd där Rakel betraktades som mindre viktigt än annan utrustning, med följd att brister i såväl kompetens som utrustning accepterades i högre utsträckning. Slutsatsen blev att ambulanssjuksköterskorna upplevde att Rakel påverkar patientsäkerheten positivt. Systemet möjliggjorde effektiv kommunikation med bibehållen sekretess mellan enheter inom ambulanssjukvården, larmcentral och samverkande instanser. Ett behov fanns dock av utbildning, övning och översyn av Rakel-utrustningen, då ambulanssjuksköterskorna ansåg att brister förelåg på dessa områden. Dessa brister upplevdes kunna hota patientsäkerheten då kommunikationen hindrades eller nådde andra mottagare än den som kommunikationen var avsedd för. Ambulanssjuksköterskorna upplevde att det fanns en utbredd attityd att Rakel inte var lika viktigt som annan utrustning, med följd att brister tolererades i högre utsträckning.

No description available.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva ambulanssjuksköterskans upplevelser av hot och våld inom prehospital akutsjukvård, samt se vilka konsekvenser detta ledde till. Metod: 67 enkäter delades ut på ambulansstationer i Uppsala län. Av 67 tillfrågade var det 34 ambulanssjuksköterskor som svarade på enkäten. Insamlingen av data genomfördes med hjälp av enkäter som bestod av sex öppna frågor som sedan analyserades utifrån en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Resultatet som baseras på ambulanssjuksköterskornas svar visade att 97 % av respondenterna hade blivit utsatta för verbala hot och att mer än varannan utsatts för fysiskt våld på något arbetspass. Detta ledde till olika upplevelser hos ambulanssjuksköterskorna. Konsekvenserna upplevdes som större vid verbala hot än fysiskt våld. Genom analysen identifierades fyra kategorier; Omvårdnadssituationer med verbala hot och fysiskt våld, Privata- och yrkesrelaterade konsekvenser av fysiskt våld vid omvårdnadssituationer, Yrkesrelaterade konsekvenser av verbala hot vid omvårdnadssituationer samt Stöd för ambulanssjuksköterskor vid inträffade hot- och våldshändelser. Under dessa fyra kategorier tog ambulanssjuksköterskorna upp konsekvenser som både var yrkesrelaterade och privata. Slutsats: Studien visade att verbala hot och fysiskt våld mot ambulanssjuksköterskor är mycket vanligt förekommande. Detta resulterade i att majoriteten av ambulanssjuksköterskorna upplevde att omvårdnadssituationen blev obehaglig och de därför som en direkt konsekvens av detta reagerade med försiktighet, distanstagande från patienten eller direkt upphörde med patientvården. Studien visar att det uppstod större konsekvenser vid verbala hot än fysiskt våld. En fungerande handlingsplan fanns, men kunde bli bättre och tydligare. Detta tyder på att förbättringsåtgärder behöver göras när en hot- och/eller våldshändelse inträffar mot ambulanssjuksköterskor. Författarnas förhoppning är att studien ska fungera som underlag för förbättringar i prehospitala verksamheter. / Purpose: Aim of this study was to describe the experiences of threats and violence against ambulance nurses in prehospital emergency care, and see what consequences this entailed. Method: 67 questionnaires were distributed to ambulance stations in Uppsala County. Of the 67 asked ambulance nurses were there 34 that responded to the survey. The collected data was conducted using questionnaires that consisted six open-ended questions and then analyzed from a qualitative content analysis. Results: The results of the ambulance nurses responses revealed that 97% of respondents had been subjected to verbal threats and more than half experienced physical violence in any shift. This led to different experiences of ambulance nurse. The consequences were higher for verbal threats than physical violence. Through the analysis four categories were identified; Nursing Situations with verbal threats and physical violence, Private and occupational consequences of physical violence at nursing situations, Occupational consequences of verbal threats at nursing situations and Support for ambulance nurses to actual threats and incidents of violence. During these four categories, ambulance nurses brought up consequences that were both professional and private. Conclusion: The study showed that verbal threats and physical violence against ambulance nurses are very common. This resulted in that most ambulance nurses experienced that the nursing situation became uncomfortable and therefor, as a direct consequence they reacted with caution, distance itself from the patient or direct cessation of patient care. The study's findings showed that there were more consequences of verbal threats than of physical violence. A workable plan of action existed, but could be better and clearer. This suggests that improvements need to be made when a threat and/or violent incident occurs against ambulance nurse. The authors hope is that the study can become a basis for improvements in the pre-hospital operations.

No description available.

The overriding goal of this work was to present information to ambulance command and control (AC2) operators in a manner that complemented their dispatchers decision making processes whilst minimising the effects of a number of identified complexities. It was theorised that presenting information in this manner would improve the decision making performance of the dispatchers. The initial stages of this work involved identifying the strategies that AC2 operators use when making decisions regarding the allocation of ambulances to emergency incidents and the complexities associated with these decisions. These strategies were identified after the analysis of interviews with AC2 operators using an interview approach called the Critical Decision Method. The subsequent analysis of the interview transcripts using an Emergent Themes Analysis provided a significant number of insights regarding the decision making processes of the operators and the information required to support these decisions. Of particular significance was the importance of situation awareness in the decision making process. For example, when dispatchers have a sound understanding of incidents and additional factors such as the ambulances under their control, the dispatch decision becomes less complicated. To extend the understanding of the dispatcher�s work in the communication centres, a number of factors that could contribute to the complexity of the dispatch task were identified from an additional analysis of the interview transcripts. However it was not possible to establish from this the contribution of these factors to the perceived complexity encountered by the operators. To address this, a questionnaire was circulated requiring dispatchers to rate the contribution of a number of factors to the complexity of the dispatch task and the frequency that these factors occurred. The results showed that the most prevalent factors related to a number of the cognitive processes that the dispatchers performed to manage the dispatch task. Such processes included determining the resource most likely to arrive at the scene of an emergency incident the quickest. There were also differences in regard to which areas of the dispatch process the dispatchers in the two centres considered to be the most complex. The final stage of this research was the design of a prototype interface that complemented the decision making strategies used by the dispatchers and addressed the identified complexities. At this stage the scope of the research was narrowed to focus primarily on the resource assessment and allocation phases of the dispatch process and several of the complexities associated with these. The prototype interface made use of a novel display technology that allowed the presentation of information across two overlapping LCD displays (referred to as a Multi Layered Display (MLD)). To test the effectiveness of this display a laboratory experiment was conducted comparing the perfomance of participants using the MLD with participants using a Single Layered Display (SLD) that presented the same information. The results indicated that in almost all cases the participants using the multi layer display performed better. However these differences did not prove to be significant.

<p> </p><p>Every day media reports acts of violence in various kinds. Crime statistics shows that threats and violence are increasing in regard to both frequency and intensity within the nation. Nurses in the ambulance service are often the first to meet with a patient, therefore these nurses often find themselves in situations where violence and threats occur or have occurred. Drug addiction or some kind of illness are often reasons behind threats and violence.</p><p>Earlier studies within this area of knowledge are mostly foreign and therefore little describes Swedish nurses` experiences of threats and violence within the ambulance service.</p><p>The purpose of this study was to describe nurses experiences of threats and violence in the meeting with patients within the ambulance service.</p><p>The study is a qualitative interview study performed within the School of Life Sciences at the University of Skövde. Six nurses were interviewed with the criterion that they should have experienced threats and violence within their occupation. The primary information was analyzed with a qualitative method.</p><p>The result showed that threats and violence occur within the occupation and that the nurses feel exposed for the same. It indicated that the types of threat vary and that the education concerning how threats and violence should be handled is considered poor by the nurses themselves. The result also showed that the patient care is affected by the amount of threats and violence that the nurses are exposed to.</p><p>There is a need for further research within this area of knowledge and within education in how to handle these situations for personnel in the ambulance service.</p>

abstract: Overcrowding of Emergency Departments (EDs) put the safety of patients at risk. Decision makers implement Ambulance Diversion (AD) as a way to relieve congestion and ensure timely treatment delivery. However, ineffective design of AD policies reduces the accessibility to emergency care and adverse events may arise. The objective of this dissertation is to propose methods to design and analyze effective AD policies that consider performance measures that are related to patient safety. First, a simulation-based methodology is proposed to evaluate the mean performance and variability of single-factor AD policies in a single hospital environment considering the trade-off between average waiting time and percentage of time spent on diversion. Regression equations are proposed to obtain parameters of AD policies that yield desired performance level. The results suggest that policies based on the total number of patients waiting are more consistent and provide a high precision in predicting policy performance. Then, a Markov Decision Process model is proposed to obtain the optimal AD policy assuming that information to start treatment in a neighboring hospital is available. The model is designed to minimize the average tardiness per patient in the long run. Tardiness is defined as the time that patients have to wait beyond a safety time threshold to start receiving treatment. Theoretical and computational analyses show that there exists an optimal policy that is of threshold type, and diversion can be a good alternative to decrease tardiness when ambulance patients cause excessive congestion in the ED. Furthermore, implementation of AD policies in a simulation model that accounts for several relaxations of the assumptions suggests that the model provides consistent policies under multiple scenarios. Finally, a genetic algorithm is combined with simulation to design effective policies for multiple hospitals simultaneously. The model has the objective of minimizing the time that patients spend in non-value added activities, including transportation, waiting and boarding in the ED. Moreover, the AD policies are combined with simple ambulance destination policies to create ambulance flow control mechanisms. Results show that effective ambulance management can significantly reduce the time that patients have to wait to receive appropriate level of care. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Industrial Engineering 2011