Nurses' roles in emergency response coordination centers in Spain: a resource to consider

To study nurse staffing at emergency response coordination centers (ERCCs) and determine nurses' functions and activities within the structure and organization of ERCCs.

Observational cross-sectional study in January and April 2019 in the 17 Spanish autonomous communities and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. We consulted ERCC institutional reports and webpages, conducted telephone interviews, and maintained email correspondence with key informants (nurse supervisors and staff directly implicated in managing emergency calls).

All the ERCCs except those in Asturias, Rioja, and the 2 autonomous cities have nurses on staff. Their usual functions are prevention and health promotion; supporting primary care physicians; managing health alerts, multiple victim incidents, and secondary patient transport; activating response codes; coordinating transport for transplants; and contacting hospitals so they expect arrivals.

Nurses in Spanish ERCCs have similar functions, but they are developed at different levels in each center.