1. Enhancing situational awareness
Improving situational awareness can be a force mulitplier for first responders - helping EMS better deploy and prepare with more accurate and timely information. This can help teams achieve better results with fewer staff and resources. For example, reducing 911 response times by one minute could save as manas as 10,000 lives every year.
Mounted cameras and drones can provide useful information to first responders. However, hundreds of video feeds and data points can be time-consuming to view. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help by providing the tools to effectively integrate and analyze the data, and bring it into a unified view that can be shared across agencies. Interoperability is critical to ensure data silos on disparate systems don't hinder responses by limiting access to mission-critical information. A real-time response system can help provide paramedics and other public safety agencies with an accurate, consolidated, near-real-time view of not only emergencies but day-to-day operations. This can help with inter-agency collaboration, enhancing situational awareness and helping to improve decision-making.
2. Improving operpations and data analysis
Another way to help counter limited resources amidst the paramedic shortage is to enhance the effectiveness of existing operations. According to EMS World, “New cloud-based systems can take in data and make it available to scheduling supervisors instantly.” Additionally, expanding data-analysis capabilities can help teams recognize potential issues, provide better coordination and schedule responders more effectively.
According to JEMs, “Patient movement data is central to this strategy. When EMS administrators have the data necessary to analyze and predict patient volumes, acuity, location, and demand peaks, they will be better equipped to appropriately match resources to service area needs.”
Integrating large amounts of data from multiple sources, including video sensors, wearable devices, record management systems, computer-aided dispatch and third-party databases can be enhanced by the power of 5G.
According to EMS1, updated pre-hospital solutions are needed as software can be outdated, can lack customization or fail to meet the specific needs of individual teams and their available resources. More advanced, adaptable, and user-friendly tools are critical to reducing the burden on existing team members and making onboarding new ones an easier process, the article continues to explain.
Traditional EMS workflows often follow standardized protocols. Pre-hospital solutions can help to automate some of this process, helping to improve both patient and paramedic experience.
Cloud-based technology and managed services from a trusted provider can allow agencies to scale up and down based on their current resourcing requirements. This can help to reduce costs by ensuring organizations only pay for what they need while also giving staff access to updated technology. These types of solutions can help both EMS teams and patients.
3. Improve training
A 2022 American Ambulance Association study of employee turnover found that 39% of part-time EMT and 55% of part-time paramedic positions went unfilled because of a lack of qualified candidates. Technology can help to train new recruits faster and provide existing staff with access to a greater range of training. Reducing the need to travel can lower costs, expand the pool of who can attend and reduce the need for understaffed teams to have to find coverage while EMTs attend training, and encourages a better work/life balance.
The higher speed and lower latency of 5G allows for multi-participant online interactive training, including video and simulations, which can be accessed whether paramedics are at home, at an office or even on their rig between calls. 5G also powers virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
AR and VR can provide realistic immersive training, preparing first responders for high-stress emergency situations. This training can track the progress of individual participants, allowing trainees to access extra help when needed. VR systems can replace costly simulators and help paramedics upskill—which can improve both their personal earning potential and the quality of healthcare provided in their community.
4. Enable alternatives for non-emergency care
Another option is to invest in technology that can help to reduce the need for paramedics to respond in person to non-emergency situations.
One example is to treat patients in place through the use of mobile healthcare options as part of a community paramedicine (CP) program. Agencies with CP programs can save money and improve health outcomes for community members. One CP pilot program in Massachusetts reportedly saved $6 million in one year by leveraging treat-in-place procedures. Other at-home services use technology to provide a virtual triage, followed by treatment for common and complex injuries and illnesses directly in the patient’s home.
Telehealth solutions can assist with reducing the burden of non-emergency calls. An easy-to-use, healthcare-centric platform combined with tools such as AI-enhanced chatbots can make it easier for patients to be assessed remotely and instructed on the most appropriate setting to receive care.