By Margaret Harding
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
PITTSBURGH — If Brandon Ashbaugh can’t quite recall how much medication to give a small child having breathing trouble, he knows what to check.
His phone.
The Freeport emergency medical technician downloaded West Penn Allegheny Health System’s new iPhone app for first responders. The EMS Field Partner app has information on protocols, or state-mandated checklists for care.
It gives EMTs and paramedics the ability to send GPS coordinates to helicopters coming to pick up patients, directions and information to the nearest West Penn Allegheny hospital that specializes in a specific call, and the ability to connect with the system’s doctors, among other features.
“If I ever have a question about how to handle a certain situation out on the field, I can use it,” said Ashbaugh, 29, an EMT for 10 years. “It’s right in the palm of my hand and easy to find.”
The free app took about eight months to develop and gives quick access to a variety of vital information for first responders, who must register to gain full use, said Jeff Polana, director for pre-hospital operations at Alle-Kiski Medical Center. Since its start last week, 150 users have activated it, Polana said.
“With the way treatment has expanded, there’s so much knowledge you need to have,” Polana said. “Now it’s right there.”
The app allows medics to alert medical helicopters of their location. Dispatchers will send out the helicopters, but the alert with the coordinates could save 4 minutes, Polana said.
“Minutes in trauma mean a lot,” he said.
One of the biggest benefits for paramedics and EMTs will be the protocols part of the application, which tell medics what to do in emergency situations and the order in which to do it, said Tom Shank, director of operations at New Kensington Ambulance Service.
Many first responders carry a book with this information, but the app will automatically update if the state changes guidelines.
“With carrying a book, you’re carrying more equipment; everyone has a phone,” Shank said. “I think it’s going to make it easier for the medics that want to look up a simple question.”
Pittsburgh Emergency Medical Services officials are reviewing the app for possible use, Deputy Chief Mark Bocian said.
Ross/West View EMS Assistant Director Greg Porter said he expects more paramedics to use the app if it becomes available for devices other than iPhones, iPads and the iTouch.
“It’s taken some things we already have and use, and brings them all together in one neat little package,” Porter said.
Republished with permission from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review