Did you really call 9-1-1 for this?

Since I have begun working in the prehospital field I have seen year after year that the number of non-emergent 9-1-1 calls increase greatly. Even with these calls being non-emergent most services are required to respond lights and siren, just in case there is a 'true' emergency. I could comment on how dangerous it is for emergency vehicle racing to a scene with lights and siren. However, I believe everyone reading this can probably understand the danger associated with large Ambulances and Fire Apparatus' rushing to "Emergency" calls.

We arrive at most, not some, calls to find that no true emergency exist. I do understand that even though I don't see something as an emergency the caller may. I act professional on every call even when there is no true medical emergency present. Sometimes it is hard to remain professional. Sometimes I feel the urge to "educate" the caller on what an emergency is. Due to the current high level of litigation in our country our medical professional have to be politically correct to avoid "upsetting" anyone. My question is - If I can't educate the patient without fear of litigation or a reprimand, who can?

In the 1980's there was a big education push to teach everyone, especially children, to call 9-1-1 in case of an emergency. Shows like Rescue 911 helped to educate us by showing real life results. I remember watching this show as a teenager. It was exciting. I remember being told in school the importance of 9-1-1. I think the education effort was phenomenal. It obviously was effective. That is obvious by the sheer number of 9-1-1 calls that are handled by Dispatch centers around the country.

I always cringe when I see a news commercial that says - TONIGHT 'Channel so and so is doing a special investigation about hold times at 9-1-1 centers. Our investigators will show you how one man died because his family could not get through to dispatchers.' The story takes the same route almost every time. It shows how the center is understaffed. The story rarely tells of the sheer volume of non-emergent calls bombarding the center. The story never tells us about the calls that come in everyday that are totally unrelated to Emergency Services. I am not a dispatcher so I won't try and give examples. Comments are welcome from those with first hand knowledge. I do know from talking to dispatchers that they have many calls daily that make them say "WOW".

I think there is a solution. I think there needs to be an effort in this country to re-educate people on when not to call 9-1-1. That effort needs to be as big as the effort was to educate people to call 9-1-1. Organizations may never educate people not to call due to the fear of litigation and political correctness. So, What do we do? Do we continue to allow Police, Fire and EMS services to be bombarded by these calls? Worse than that, Do we allow victims of Strokes, Heart Attacks, Gunshots or other life threatening condition to have their care delayed because the nearest Ambulance to them is assessing a patient with back pain that began 2 weeks ago? Once the Ambulance arrives on the back pain call they cannot abandon that patient for a more critical patient. That patient has to wait for the next closest unit. In larger cities with many Units available the delay may only be 1-2 minute, but in rural areas that next available Unit may be 10 minutes away.

What a lot of people don't understand about Emergency Health Care is, our job is not about "Life and Death". Ten minutes may be the difference in walking and a wheelchair. The care we provide may be the biggest factor that influences a persons quality of life after a major medical event. Our efforts may mean that a person lived. That in itself is a great thing. But isn't it just as important that someone can hold their child again. Isn't it just as important that a father is able to throw a football with his soon. Isn't it important that a teenager walks during their graduation instead of being pushed in a wheelchair to receive a High School Diploma. The quality of life that a person maintains after a severe illness or injury is directly effected by the care they receive. The care they receive is directly effected by the efficiency of the emergency response system in their community. The efficiency of the emergency response system is directly effected by the guy that has and back pain for 2 weeks.

There has to be a better way to serve our communities. There has to be a more efficient way to get care to the sick and injured. It certainly is not the system we currently use. We can't keep adding dispatchers to a system that is losing money everyday. Most Cities and Counties cannot pay two more dispatchers and add two more consoles for them to staff. It just isn't feasible. Why not re-educate people. Why don't we say this is not what you call 9-1-1 for? Are we really people that are more concerned with "getting seen faster because we came in by ambulance"?

I will go out on a limb and say not only is this behavior the root cause of inefficient call centers, but it is also the reason for overcrowded emergency departments. That may be a topic for another day. We can improve our 9-1-1 centers with common sense. Yes, I know you can't teach common sense. We can educate people though. Where does it start? I wish I knew. I do know that there is a Paramedic in San Fransisco that is seeing first hand how it is being done in other countries. He is called the Happy Medic. Click on his name to be taken to his Blog. He is working on the project with Medic999. Both of these guys are Bloggers that took an interest in improving their own systems by combining ideas. The project is being covered by Setla Films, the creator of Level Zero. His company is filming the project to air as a Documentary called The Chronicles of EMS. These EMS professional s have posted updates using multiple forms of social media. You can find their updates on Twitter, youtube and Facebook. If you are not following it already then jump on board. We all have something to learn from what others are doing to improve prehospital health care. Don't fall into the trap of thinking just because you have a Paramedic or EMT license, you can't make a difference. Our system needs change. That change starts with you. Take a look at the project. If you don't get as excited as I am about improving prehospital health care, then you may be in the wrong field.