The EMS Performance Improvement Center’s (EMSPIC) Toolkits created in 2004 were designed with the intention of improving clinical care and system efficiency.
EMS STATS (Self-Tracking and Assessment of Targeted Statistics) is the EMS Performance Improvement Center’s next generation of Performance Improvement Tools. This project is a collaboration between the North Carolina Office of EMS and the EMSPIC, funded by the Duke Endowment. EMS STATS are based on current national standards of prehospital practice and include two new innovative methods to assess, track, and improve prehospital patient care. This upgrade includes the movement to the latest NEMSIS 3.3 dataset, the upgrade of the source data for clinical excellence related to the time sensitive clinical injury and illness standards, and national EMS reporting system technological updates. Our goal was to align each of the EMS STATS with current standards identified by the respective national subject matter experts representing the American Heart Association (AHA), American Stroke Association (ASA), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other related national organizations. The aim is to ensure that EMS STATS will be used to assess EMS performance priorities identified by the NEMSIS Performance Measures and provide the most useful assessments to improve system, agency, and field provider performance.
NEMSIS has recommended a package of seven Performance Measure tools to examine EMS performance. Currently EMS Performance Improvement Center Toolkits, which are being revamped and transformed into STATS, cover six of these topics:
- Response
- Trauma
- Cardiac Care/STEMI
- Cardiac Arrest
- Stroke
- Pediatrics
Two new STATS are being developed by the EMS Performance Improvement Center. The NEMSIS Performance Measures include Airway as a topic. Therefore, the EMSPIC EMS STATS also include an Airway STATS which will be used to track all relevant and critical data used to manage and control the airway. The second performance measure being produced is exclusive to the EMS Performance Improvement Center. The EMS Provider STATS will be the first performance improvement tool which will allow the Paramedic and other level credentialed EMS Providers to perform a personal clinical and operational performance evaluation anonymously comparing their individual skills and performance to those of others with the same credential serving similar patient populations.
As our next generation suite of performance improvement products, STATS were built with the assistance of the participation of subject matter experts from North Carolina and throughout the country. Surveys of need, focus groups, and EMS agencies have all been utilized to develop the EMS STATS. They have a streamlined format to facilitate ease of use, while focusing on key indicators that have the greatest impact on system and personal improvement. They include a Digest and an Expanded version. The Digest is focused on relevant comparisons while the Expanded version includes all the information, including statistical testing output, that is incorporated into the Digest version. The Expanded version may also include a few assessments that are not included in the Digest.
The EMS STATS will provide for the ability for systems, agencies, and providers to make the best data driven decisions to improve the care that they provide while optimizing the service they deliver.
The application period for the South Carolina Lead the Wave grant, funded by the Duke Endowment has ended. The purpose of the project is to improve patient care and EMS service delivery through the distribution of cardiac care and capnography equipment. Early recognition of ST elevation myocardial infarctions though 12 Lead EKG acquisition and interpretation, early defibrillation in cardiac arrest, and the use of capnography to aid in the assessment of airway adjunct placement and respiratory conditions has become a standard of care in EMS. The South Carolina Division of Health and Environmental Control Division of EMS and Trauma, the EMS Performance Improvement Center, and the Duke Endowment are excited about this collaboration that will ensure citizens of South Carolina have access to this life saving equipment. A notice of grant awards will be made available in the coming weeks. Please contact the EMSPIC or The South Carolina Division of Health and Environmental Control Division of EMS and Trauma for any questions.
North Carolina Lead the Wave
The grant application process has ended. Awards have been announced and improvements are currently being tracked.
Each day in North Carolina over 15 individuals die from sudden cardiac arrest and another 30 experience a life-threatening event that could result in sudden cardiac arrest. Lead the Wave brings the Duke Endowment, the North Carolina Office of EMS, the EMS Performance Improvement Center, and North Carolina’s EMS Systems to dramatically increase the number of people who survive while helping to decrease the number of cardiac arrest events.
A total of $1,750,000 will be made available to North Carolina EMS Systems through this program to purchase 12 lead ECG and waveform capnography equipment for permitted in-service EMS vehicles responding to 911 events. It is the goal of this grant to assure that every permitted in-service North Carolina EMS vehicle responding to a 911 event has a 12 lead ECG and capnography device.