The current situation around the new coronavirus is developing rapidly. As we begin to map more cases in new areas along with tracking the shortages of PPE supplies we are also hearing the CDC update guidance for healthcare providers with constantly changing advice. Even the stock market is falling as investors try to make sense of the extent of the impact of cancelled public gatherings and increased social distancing.
While there are significant new challenges around exacerbated staffing shortages created by potential quarantines of first responders, it is still, at least to some degree, business as usual for EMS. Panic over the declared pandemic is not eliminating the “normal” calls to which we must respond. Medical emergencies including cardiac arrests, cerebrovascular events like strokes, diabetic emergencies, and acute respiratory attacks (including COPD, bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma) in addition to common influenza and pneumonia occurrences in this season are all still happening just as before. Similarly, traumatic events are also continuing to happen as a result of motor vehicle collisions or by trip hazards in the homes of the elderly. It is these “routine” calls that are the very reason the most high-performing EMS agencies across Amercia began using MARVLIS in the first place. Now, the added pressures of concern over COVID-19 are requiring additional precautions that can delay care and increase the costs of delivering service to our communities, it may even cause an increase in call volume soon.
The need for efficiency in operations is never greater than during a time of emergency or crisis.
While the vast majority of EMS calls have not changed significantly in response the crisis so far, it is likely to have an impact as the pandemic grows in extent across time and jurisdictional borders. As that happens, the query used in MARVLIS Demand Monitor can be modified to highlight past respiratory emergencies to help prioritize nursing homes or the residences of the most vulnerable elderly populations. On the other hand, if the concern is that this population cannot be so easily identified, MARVLIS Deployment Planner can be used to create a geographically balanced plan that position ambulances throughout the service area based on the best ability to respond anywhere given any potential service level. MARVLIS Deployment Monitor has settings to provide automated recommendations for unit movements to match the plan according rules you can control to either minimize the time to reach that optimal configuration or limit the number post moves that crews experience. The most recent releases of MARVLIS include a “hotspot accuracy report” that allows MARVLIS Demand Monitor to grade the ability of competing queries in making the most appropriate forecasts and MARVLIS PSAP Monitor can allow neighboring mutual aid resources to be seen live on a map.
As the current crisis evolves, it is good to know that experienced advisers are available at Bradshaw Consulting Services to help MARVLIS users modify their application configuration to assist agencies in meeting their changing business objectives. As resources become more constrained, the flexibility of MARVLIS becomes more apparent.
High Performance EMS 