IAED Offers Dispatch Tool for Ebola

Ebola has come to the U.S., and emergency call-takers and dispatchers are among those who can help identify and stop any spread. To assist them, the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch offers its Emerging Infectious Disease Surveillance (EIDS) tool for use with Priority Dispatch ProQA sofware.

Based on the IAED’s SRI tool for detecting severe respiratory infections, the EIDS instrument covers possible signs and symptoms that might be observed or known about a patient of interest, including their recent travel. It was developed by the IAED’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, & Nuclear (CBRN) Committee based on the MPDS protocol.  

Use of the tool should be approved by each system’s medical director. The IAED recommends processing calls through case entry and key questions and generating a final code; then, if the patient has symptoms consistent with EVD (Ebola virus disease) and epidemiologic/travel risk factors (both as approved by medical control), using the EID tool to complete the interrogation. Chief complaints recommended for use are those that represent typical flulike symptoms and unexplained bleeding: Protocol 26 Sick Person, Protocol 6 Breathing Problems, Protocol 18 Headache, Protocol 10 Chest Pain, and Protocol 21 Hemorrhage (MEDICAL).

“This additional questioning,” the IAED notes, “may identify potential EVD patients and allow for appropriate notification to responders and receiving hospitals etc., and for the modification of local response assignment and/or referral policies and procedures. The use of the EID tool also enables the notification of governmental healthcare organizations on a local, national and/or international level.”

Fore more:

• https://www.emergencydispatch.org;

• https://www.emergencydispatch.org/ebola-alert-august28;

• https://www.emergencydispatch.org/academy-news/eids-tool.