Canadian Healthcare Technology Logo
  • Issues
    • Current Print Issue
    • Print Archive
  • Advertise
    • Publishing Schedule
    • Circulation
    • Unit Sizes and Rates
    • Mechanical Requirements
    • Electronic Advertising
    • White Papers
  • Subscribe
    • Print Edition
    • e-Messenger
    • White Papers
  • Events
  • Vendors
  • About Us

GE [April2023]

GE [April2023]

Enovacom eHealth banner

Enovacom eHealth banner

Analytics

Ottawa ER tech shows paramedics on the way

January 24, 2018


Dr Shaun Visser

OTTAWA – Four hospitals in the Ottawa area are using live-streaming analytic feeds from paramedics to keep an eye on the volume of patients headed to their emergency rooms. The systems will also show when it’s taking too long for paramedics to be redeployed after dropping off a patient.

The goal is to reduce “offload delays” – the time paramedics spend sitting around overcrowded hospitals before they can hand their patients over for care. On a bad day paramedics can wait up to five hours – time they’re not able to spend responding to new emergencies.

“The improvement in offload means patients are going to receive care from the emergency department faster,” Greg Furlong, deputy chief of the paramedic service, told CBC News. “It means the next person to call 911 will hopefully get an ambulance quicker because there’s more available.”

The initiative follows numerous instances when the city slipped into what paramedics call “level zero.” That’s when there isn’t a single available ambulance to respond to an emergency. Level zero alerts used to be rare, but in 2016 they occurred more than 250 times, according to data obtained by CBC News though an access to information request.

Darryl Wilton, president of the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa, said more than a year later, level zero alerts continue to ring out. “That’s something that we hear daily,” Wilton said. “As recently as last week you would hear level alarms going off all night long for long stretches.”

The city has hired more paramedics to help deal with the issue, but Ottawa is also dealing with a growing number of 911 calls, Wilton said. “We definitely need to try something new and innovative to get resources back in the city.”

The first monitors were installed at the Montfort Hospital and the Ottawa Hospital’s Civic campus. A third screen is coming soon to the General campus, and the Queensway-Carleton’s will follow soon after.

The screens are programmed to turn red when paramedics have been waiting more than 30 minutes to offload a patient.

Dr. Shaun Visser (pictured), medical director of the Montfort’s emergency unit, said the bright red alerts could act as “peer pressure” to encourage hospital staff to get paramedics back on the road, because the monitors show how all the hospitals are dealing with demand.

“You actually see your offload time in real time in all the emergency departments in the city,” said Visser, who’s also the emergency department lead for the Champlain Local Health Integration Network. “So it allows everybody to be on the same playing field and be aware of where the pressures in the system are.”

“It allows everybody to be on the same playing field and be aware of where the pressures in the system are,” says Dr. Shaun Visser, medical director of the Montfort Hospital’s emergency unit. (Ashley Burke/CBC News)

Before the new technology came along, ER staff had to call around to find out which hospitals had capacity to receive patients, and direct paramedics accordingly. The new system promises to be more efficient, Visser said. “We’re hoping the new system will allow that to be done automatically to a certain degree.”

The city’s dispatch centre could use the tool to more evenly distribute ambulances to hospitals throughout the day, based on capacity.

Another advantage is that the system shows hospital staff exactly when an ambulance will arrive, so staff have time to prepare for the patient, especially in critical cases.

Furlong said a version of the technology could one day be made public so everyone can see where paramedics are, but that’s a long way off.

PreviousNext

WP [900×150]

WP [900x150]

News and Trends

  • New wave of generative AI is appearing in healthcare
  • Virtual nursing project in Nunavut shows improved outcomes
  • E-prescribing gives family physicians needed admin support
  • New tools emerging to help reduce clinician burnout
  • Choosing wisely in practice: Integrating guidelines into electronic records
More from the Print Edition

Subscribe

Subscribe

Free of charge to Canadian hospital managers and executives in nursing homes and home-care organizations. Learn More

Follow us on Social Media!

Follow us on Social Media!

Softworks

Softworks

Tripp-Lite

Tripp-Lite

Medica save the date

Medica save the date

Advertise with us

Advertise with us

Sectra SaaS

Sectra SaaS

Change Healthcare [2]

Change Healthcare [2]

Infoway

Infoway

Zebra

Zebra

RealTime

RealTime

WP [900×150]

WP [900x150]

Advertise with us

Advertise with us

Sectra SaaS

Sectra SaaS

Change Healthcare [2]

Change Healthcare [2]

Infoway

Infoway

Zebra

Zebra

RealTime

RealTime

Contact Us

Canadian Healthcare Technology
1118 Centre Street, Suite 207
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada L4J 7R9
Tel: 905-709-2330
Fax: 905-709-2258
info2@canhealth.com

  • Quick Links
    • Current Print Issue
    • Print Archive
    • Events
    • Vendors
    • About Us
  • Advertise
    • Publishing Schedule
    • Circulation
    • Unit Sizes and Rates
    • Mechanical Requirements
    • Electronic Advertising
    • White Papers
  • Subscribe
    • Print Edition
    • e-Messenger
    • White Papers
  • Resources
    • White Papers
    • Writers’ Guidelines
    • Privacy Policy
  • Topics
    • Administrative Solutions
    • Clinical Solutions
    • Companies
    • Continuing Care
    • Diagnostics
    • Education & Training
  •  
    • Electronic Records
    • Government & Policy
    • Infrastructure
    • Innovation
    • People
    • Privacy and Security

© 2023 Canadian Healthcare Technology

The content of Canadian Healthcare Technology is subject to copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Send all requests for permission to Jerry Zeidenberg, Publisher.

Search Site

Error: Enter a search term

  • Issues
    • Current Print Issue
    • Print Archive
  • Advertise
    • Publishing Schedule
    • Circulation
    • Unit Sizes and Rates
    • Mechanical Requirements
    • Electronic Advertising
    • White Papers
  • Subscribe
    • Print Edition
    • e-Messenger
    • White Papers
  • Events
  • Vendors
  • About Us