Incident numbers are assigned by LifeCom.

Do not use leading zeros in the chart. If Lifecom gives you 00343 use 343.

This is always "Pennington First Aid Squad"

This is always "BLS"

If you responded or had two EMTs who could have responded (and they were in an ambulance), select the ambulance number. If you scratched or were cancelled before you had two EMTs who could have responded, select "151-no ambulance."

For assigned crews or where the crew has signed up for the time, select the appropriate, day, night, etc. Otherwise select "scramble."

This is an optional entry. You may leave it blank by selecting the blank line at the top of the list.

This is for your response TO the scene.

This is always "scene" unless it was a mutual aid call, a pre-arranged transport or a pre-arranged stand-by.

Please make an effort to select "mutual aid" when appropriate. It makes the life of the statistician so much easier.

This is always "Unsched." unless it was a pre-arranged transport or a pre-arranged stand-by.
Examples might be a transport of a patient from the hospital to their home or a Pennington Day standby.

YOUR assessment of what type of call/condition you saw. If you scratch, use "other" or "not applicable" or "unknown". If you can't find a perfect match or if two descriptors fit, pick the one you think matches best. Do not use "other" just because you can't find a perfect fit.

The call type as dispatched.

If you can't find a perfect match or if two descriptors fit, pick the one you think matches best. Do not use "other" just because you can't find a perfect fit. You may indicate the actual dispatch in a narrative block somewhere else in the chart.

Use "other" for scratches. Do not use Recalled for a scratch.

Use "Standby, Fire Call" for fires

"SNN" means you cancelled ALS because their Services were Not Needed. "Prox." means you cancelled ALS because they weren't going to catch up to you or were too far away.

If you did anything medical to the patient (bandaid, ALS glutose IV), and the patient signed a release it is "Treated, refused AMA." (Against Medical Advice) If the patient signed a release without medical treatment it is "Patient refused care." If the patient walked away from you or refused to sign a release, it is "Patient refusal by action."

Please select "yes" or "no." This should never be "Not Recorded."

Be advised that if you select "yes," you will need to fill out other forms. There is no need to select "yes" for an MVA with lots of releases as long as you do have the resources for the patients.

"D" is for driver.
"P" is for crew chief - just one per chart.
"S" is for all other EMTs at the scene.
"O" is for MOD-1s at the scene.

DO NOT use "T"

If you have more than four crew members or need to record members who were at the building, type their names (lastname, firstname) in the "Other" box. Also type a descriptor like "on crew" or "at building" in the "Other" box.

Select names from the dropdown list or click in the space and hit the first letter of the last name until the name you want appears. Then tab to the next box.

After you move to Page 2, the display will change from a drop down list to names and little binoculars. If you want to add or change a name at that point, click on the binoculars and you get a display like this:

Enter a name, check "Only search your service", click search, and select the member you want to add or change.

If you have a 159 driver on your crew, be sure to note this in the "Other" box. We need to keep paid and volunteers separate for LOSAP and statistics. Use something like Williams(159) or van Hise(HVES).

If you have more than four crew members or you need to record members who were at the building, type their names (lastname, firstname) in the "Other" box. Also type a descriptor like "on crew" or "at building" in the "Other" box.

Almost always select "other." May use "EMS" if another ambulance breaks down or has an accident or "hospital" if you are transporting a patient home from a hospital.

"Name" is a description of the dispatch address, like a residence or a school or a highway. Some very common addresses are assigned to location types. For example, if you select "name" as educational institution and then use the magnifying glass to enter an address you will see a pull-down menu labeled common. To automatically enter an address, select it from the list.

For reasons known only to emsCharts, "name" changes to "other type" once you have entered it.

"Location is the scene address. Click on the magnifying glass to get a new window like this.

"Common" gives a dropdown list for automatic entry of common addresses.

"Name" is the name of a business, church, school, etc for the address. NOT the patient name.

"Address" is typed in. Check spelling against our street directory.

"Cty/St/Zip" all common local towns are in dropdown list. For anything else, click on the icon of the pencil and paper to enter town manually.

"County" should enter automatically if a local town is selected.

Optional. Don't enter unless you are certain who made the 911 call.

Ambulance on the scene.

How patient got from scene to ambulance. If they walked, select "assisted walk."

Position of the patient on the stretcher.

The list is incomplete, there is no Trendelenberg and you cannot specify left or right lateral recumbent. Best to handle this in activities.

Fowlers and semi-Fowlers are the most common positions of a patient "sitting" on the stretcher.

Almost always "Hosp."

If the ambulance breaks down in route or is involved in an accident, it may be necessary to transfer to other "EMS". In that case, use the search routine to find the name of the squad.

For pre-arranged transports from a hospital to home, select other. The window to fill in is much like the "Referring" windows above. If you need help, call the software administrators.

Name of the hospital from the drop down list.

Where you delivered the patient at the hospital. Usually Emergency Department but other locations, particularly OB/GYN, also are used.

Response in route to the hospital.

These are not always distinct. If the crew chose to go to the closest hospital for example, you could choose "crew choice" or "closest facility." Probably best to choose the more impersonal choice (closest over crew choice, for example).

This is the recommended place to put your care transfer statement. For example, you might write something like "care and info to ED staff, bed 7 hallway, nurse Ratched." If you prefer, you may put the care statement in the activity section on page 8.

The first time you work on page 1, click on "Add Patient" to move on.

The next time you return to page 1, the display changes to a list of patients with the clickable "+" to add more patients. Adding multiple patients to an MVA with several releases is a way to avoid some repetitious data entry but can easily become confusing and hard to keep track of. Our medical director has requested we not use this feature and that a new chart be started for each patient on a call. Use of the CAD import and copy and paste make it easy to have a separate chart for each patient for the redundant portions of the call.

Optional

Get these times from LifeCom. Expected times:

Normal call:
Dispatch
Enroute
On scene
Leave for hospital (Dep Ref)
Arrive at hospital (Arv Rec)
Available

Cancelled call:
Dispatch
Enroute (if not cancelled before enroute)
Cancelled
Available

Scratched call:
Dispatch
Available

Not used.

Get these times from LifeCom. Expected times:

Normal call:
Dispatch
Enroute
On scene
Leave for hospital (Dep Ref)
Arrive at hospital (Arv Rec)
Available

Cancelled call:
Dispatch
Enroute (if not cancelled before enroute)
Cancelled
Available

Scratched call:
Dispatch
Available

Optional

Get these times from LifeCom. Expected times:

Normal call:
Dispatch
Enroute
On scene
Leave for hospital (Dep Ref)
Arrive at hospital (Arv Rec)
Available

Cancelled call:
Dispatch
Enroute (if not cancelled before enroute)
Cancelled
Available

Scratched call:
Dispatch
Available

Optional

Get these times from LifeCom. Expected times:

Normal call:
Dispatch
Enroute
On scene
Leave for hospital (Dep Ref)
Arrive at hospital (Arv Rec)
Available

Cancelled call:
Dispatch
Enroute (if not cancelled before enroute)
Cancelled
Available

Scratched call:
Dispatch
Available

Not used

The global positioning system (GPS) coordinates will automatically appear when you enter the location.

Click on the word map and a map of the location will appear for internet connected laptops.

The global positioning system (GPS) coordinates will automatically appear when you enter the hospital.

Click on the word map and a map of the hospital location will appear for internet connected laptops.

How the patient moved (or moved themselves) from the ambulance or stretcher to the hospital's bed, wheelchair, etc. This drop down has lots of internal inconsistencies. Do the best you can.

Patient condition upon arrival at the hospital(or home etc for non-emergency transport).