Development of a first-responder dispatch system using a smartphone.

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Public Health
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) presents a critical public health challenge requiring rapid medical intervention.
• Traditional emergency medical service (EMS) response times can be lengthy, impacting patient survival rates.
• Community First Responders (CFRs) offer a potential solution to bridge the gap before EMS arrival.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a prototype Community First Responder (CFR) dispatch system.
• To assess the impact of the CFR system on emergency response times for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) incidents.
• To determine the feasibility of CFRs arriving at a scene before EMS.

Main Methods:

• A prototype CFR dispatch system was created, transmitting incident details and maps to CFR mobile phones.
• A simulation study involved 30 OHCA incidents from the previous year in Motegi.
• Thirty off-duty firefighters served as CFRs, dispatched to historical incident locations.

Main Results:

• The CFR system reduced mean response time by 3 minutes and 37 seconds (36% reduction, P < 0.01) compared to historical controls.
• The median travel distance for CFRs was 3.4 km, with a positive correlation between distance and response time.
• Interactive communication between dispatchers and CFRs proved crucial for operational effectiveness.

Conclusions:

• The prototype CFR dispatch system effectively reduces response times to OHCA incidents.
• CFRs can significantly improve pre-hospital care by reaching patients earlier than EMS.
• This technology demonstrates potential for enhancing community-based emergency response systems.