Supporting decisions for medical dispatchers

Moving patients to hospitals that can supply the required level of care is important part in meeting the needs of patients. A single medical transportation system, Ornge, is responsible for transporting patients between hospitals in the province of Ontario. For urgent (stable but risk for deterioration or threat to life or limb) and emergent (an immediate threat to life) patients, transportation decisions must be made within a short time frame. These decisions can be difficult because there are multiple methods of transportation available (e.g., helicopters, aircraft, and land ambulances) and multiple patients who are competing for the same transport resources. Medical dispatchers at Ornge must balance the different needs and requirements while managing the logistics of medical transfers. We have been working on supporting medical dispatchers with these difficult tasks by understanding their decision processes, and working towards developing tools that will help them make better transport mode decisions to improve patient outcomes.