System Evaluation

Fred Wilder
May 4, 2014
Management of Information Systems
Robert Jenkins
University of Phoenix

No matter what line of business you are in, it is all about learning and improving. Identifying and resolving the problems that arise within and outside the organization is important to uplift business productivity. Outdated and Inefficient methods and strategies will not move your business ahead, it will only cause more problems and more work for the employees. Even in public service, where you primary objective is serving customers to the best of your ability it is extremely important to make sure you are always looking for ways to advance business and promote better service. I have a friend that works as a 911 Telecommunication Officer, and her department have recently switched from a EMD Protocol Card set system to a ProQA system that appears to be much more efficient. The EMD Protocol Card set system delivers the medical protocol in a durable flip file format with individual protective card pockets. The cardset allows dispatchers to quickly move through Case Entry and Key Questioning. Determinants clearly display the response configuration specifically assigned to the code by local agency authorities. Although there are many pros to this type of system, the problem is the cons outweigh the pros. When you are dealing with life or death situations it is important to be as accurate as possible. What I have discovered is that these cards sometimes leave you guessing as what to do next. For example, if you to give someone instructions on how to perform CPR it is important that you are able to provide the right instructions as quickly as possible. Using the EMD Protocol Card system you could get confused on what card to flip to next based on the answer to the questions you ask. If the victim is a 35-50 year old male the instructions may be different for a male that is 10-15 years of age. Using the card system it slows you down having to decide what card to turn to based on age and thing s like that. Not to say that the card system doesn’t work because her organization has been using it for years, but there is always a simpler and more effective way of doing things. When it comes to saving lives there is no time to waste and no mistakes to be made. Although their EMD Protocol Card System has done well The Cary Police Department has decided to upgrade to the ProQA system. ProQA is the premier Emergency Medical Dispatcher software package. It offers a 911 Telecommunication Officer the automated tools they need to provide the very best in pre-hospital patient care. During the course of an emergency medical call, ProQA guides you through the process of collecting the vital information from the caller, obtaining the patient’s status, choosing an appropriate dispatch level, and instructing the caller with medically approved protocols until the dispatched units arrive at the scene. The director of the 911 telecommunications department at The Town of Cary says, “I support using the ProQA, because it becomes much harder to miss key questions, like who, what, when, and why.” ProQA is an expert system designed to help you provide the very best in service and speed. Correct dispatch levels are usually determined in less than one minute. ProQA additionally provides you with Dispatch Life Support protocols, which meet or exceed the international standards for emergency medical dispatching. ProQA is built on a foundation of empirical literature and medical experience relevant to medical dispatching. The use of ProQA software by EMDs trained and certified by the National Academy of Emergency Medical Dispatch SM results in state of the art emergency medical dispatching. It purposely takes into account the unique, non-visual nature of the medical dispatch environment, where patients must be assessed and treated by remote control. With this system there is no guessing and no wasting time reading to see what you have to do next. Once the initial information about the patient is entered it automatically tells the dispatcher what needs to be done next without hesitation. Saving lives just became a little bit easier for the Town of Cary Police Department. It is always important for an organization to do what is necessary to make sure their business is putting out it’s best work. Settling for just getting by isn’t enough and sooner or later you will come to a point where your business is no longer profitable. When it comes to public service and safety it is extra important to make sure you are doing everything to you can to better service the community. The Town of Cary Police Department took a huge step forward in those regards upgrading their EMD system to an automated ProQA system.

Reference

http://www.emergencydispatch.org/articles/whatis.html