WALKER COUNTY, Texas – Emergencies can happen anywhere, at any time.
For those in rural areas having access to all available resources could mean the difference between life and death.
Walker County EMS has new technology that is helping emergency responders better serve their communities in times of need.
Dr. Jason Knight is Chief Medical Officer and ER Medical Director at Houston Methodist The Woodlands. Knight works in the emergency room.
“The longer those transport times are, the more critical, it is that the EMS and paramedic providers get this right because that time is really critical,” he said.
The hospital is partnering with Walker County EMS on a pilot program utilizing the newest technology.
“ESO is our patient care reporting platform,” said Chris Toman, the assistant director of Walker County EMS.
Toman called the technology ESO a game changer during emergencies. As soon as a paramedic responds to a call, from the time they make contact with the patient, all the data and observations collected on that patient is instantly loaded into ESO and transferred to hospital staff, ensuring nurses and doctors on the receiving end are more prepared.
“Previously it was a little more difficult, it was all done, by phone and it depended on the provider. Anytime you are on the phone or radio, trying to give a report to the receiving facility, that is time away from the patient.” Toman said.
“Sometimes that information can get lost, and right now what is happening is they are able to enter all that information electronically, it instantly loads up into our electronic medical records system and any physician caring for the patient, or nurse can access that information. So, we know under what circumstances they were found.” Knight said. “It allows these EMS and paramedics to get a real-time education. So if they pick somebody up with a stroke and drop them off in critical condition, it’s really unsatisfying to never know what happened to that patient. In addition to that, it is really invaluable feedback for them to say, ‘Oh maybe I should have given this drug or this drug, or a higher dose.’ Or what happened to this particular patient. Some of these rural communities around Texas where quite a few people live, do not have access to the same continuing training and education resources.”
The two emphasize this is a great benefit for the community.
“It’s been huge for continued quality improvement. The community is going to get a better patient outcome, when we respond to a call, all is built into whatever we have done up to a certain point, we have all sorts of important data points we train on. And we can roll that into the next training we do and we have the evidence for it.” Toman said.
EMS personnel said this technology provides peace of mind to EMS personnel. These men and women, do what they do because they care, and although they are passing their patients off to definitive care, they can find out how they’re doing, in addition to how they did so they are better prepared for the next emergency.
There are 28 hospitals, 38 fire systems, and 43 EMS providers throughout the Houston metro using ESO, but this is a first for this area, which is critical for people living in rural areas.