Method and apparatus for reporting emergency incidents

• US 20030195775A1
• Filed: 05/29/2003
• Published: 10/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/1998
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: David R. Hampton, Kathleen E. Briscoe, Robert E. Smith
• Original Assignee: David R. Hampton, Kathleen E. Briscoe, Robert E. Smith
• Inventors: Hampton, David R., Smith, Robert E., Briscoe, Kathleen E.
• Application Number:
  US10/447,791
• Publication Number:
  US 20030195775A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 relating to practices or guidelines
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/40 relating to drugs, e.g. their side effects or intended usage

Abstract

An event reporting program (48) is provided which electronically records information critical to reconstructing events occurring during an emergency incident. The event reporting program (48) includes an event recording component (204) for recording events as they occur during the incident, and a post-processing component (206) for further processing the events recorded by the event recording component after completion of the incident. The event recording component (204) enables an emergency service provider to input a plurality of event records (148) describing each event as it occurs and the time at which each event takes place. The event recording component also enables an emergency service provider to input a predefined protocol of expected event records.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

storing a plurality of treatment protocols, each of the treatment protocols including a plurality of event records, and each of the event records including information describing an event that is expected to occur and a time that the event is expected to occur during provision of treatment according to one of the treatment protocols;

generating an incident record for a patient that includes information related to treatment of the patient during a medical emergency; and

including event records of one of the treatment protocols that was selected by a user from among the plurality of stored treatment protocols based on a condition of the patient within the incident record for the patient.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising modifying a selected one of the event records of the selected protocol within the incident record based on input received from the user.

3. The method of claim 2, in which the input describes a time that an event described by the selected event record actually occurred, and

modifying a selected one of the event records comprises adding the time at which the event actually occurred to the selected event record.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding an additional event record to the incident record based on input received from the user,

the additional event record including information that describes an event not associated with the selected treatment protocol that occurred during treatment of the patient.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information that describes an event not associated with the selected treatment protocol that occurred during treatment of the patient from a device; and

adding an additional event record that includes the received information and information identifying the device that provided the received information to the incident record.

6. The method of claim 5, in which the device comprises one of a computer-aided dispatch system and an external defibrillator used to treat the patient during the medical emergency.

7. The method of claim 5, in which the information received from the device includes a time that the event occurred, the method further comprising:

adjusting the time based on a current time indicated by a clock; and

storing the adjusted time within the additional event record.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a narrative from the user; and

including the narrative within the incident record.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information relating to medications used by the patient from the user; and

including the medication information within the incident record.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing information relating to a plurality of drugs, the information including dosage information for the drugs;

displaying information relating to one of the drugs selected by the user;

receiving information relating to the patient from the user; and

displaying a dosage calculated based on the information relating to the patient and the dosage information to the user.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

for one of the event records included within the incident record, determining that the respective time that the respective event was expected to occur has expired; and

issuing an alarm to alert the user of the expiration.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a report that includes information stored within the incident record.

13. A device comprising:

a memory to store a plurality of treatment protocols, each of the treatment protocols including a plurality of event records, and each of the event records including information describing an event that is expected to occur and a time that the event is expected to occur during provision of treatment according to one of the treatment protocols; and

a processor to generate an incident record for a patient that includes information related to treatment of the patient during a medical emergency, include event records of one of the treatment protocols that was selected by a user based on a condition of the patient within the incident record for the patient, and store the incident record within the memory.

14. The device of claim 13, further comprising a user input device, wherein the processor modifies a selected one of the event records of the selected protocol within the incident record based on input received from the user via the user input device.

15. The device of claim 14, in which the input describes a time that an event described by the selected event record actually occurred, and

the processor adds the time at which the event actually occurred to the selected event record.

16. The device of claim 13, further comprising a user input device, wherein the processor adds an additional event record to the incident record based on input received from the user via the user input device, and

the additional event record including information that describes an event not associated with the selected treatment protocol that occurred during treatment of the patient.

17. The device of claim 13, further comprising an interface to allow the processor communicate with another device,

wherein the processor receives information that describes an event not associated with the selected treatment protocol that occurred during treatment of the patient from the other device, and adds an additional event record that includes the received information and information identifying the other device to the incident record.

18. The device of claim 17, in which the other device comprises one of a computer-aided dispatch system and an external defibrillator used to treat the patient during the medical emergency.

19. The device of claim 17, further comprising a clock, wherein the information that the processor receives from the other device includes a time that the event occurred, and

the processor adjusts the time based on a current time indicated by the clock, and stores the adjusted time within the additional event record.

20. The device of claim 13, further comprising a user input device, wherein the processor receives a narrative from the user via the user input device, and includes the narrative within the incident record.

21. The device of claim 13, further comprising a user input device, wherein the processor receives information relating to medications used by the patient from the user via the user input device, and includes the medication information within the incident record.

22. The device of claim 13, further comprising:

a user input device; and

a display,

wherein the memory stores information relating to a plurality of drugs, the information including dosage information for the drugs, and

the processor displays information via the display, the information relating to one of the drugs selected by the user via the user input device, receives information relating to the patient from the user via the user input device, and displays a dosage calculated based on the information relating to the patient and the dosage information to the user via the display.

23. The device of claim 13, further comprising an alarm, wherein for one of the event records included within the incident record the processor determines that the respective time that the respective event was expected to occur has expired, and activates the alarm to alert the user of the expiration.

24. The device of claim 13, in which the processor generates a report that includes information stored within the incident record.

25. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

generate an incident record for a patient that includes information related to treatment of the patient during a medical emergency;

receive input from a user selecting one of a plurality of treatment protocols stored in a memory based on a condition of the patient, each of the treatment protocols including a plurality of event records, and each of the event records including information describing an event that is expected to occur and a time that the event is expected to occur during provision of treatment according to one of the treatment protocols; and

include event records of the selected one of the treatment protocols within the incident record for the patient.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to modify a selected one of the event records of the selected protocol within the incident record based on input received from the user.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, in which the input describes a time that an event described by the selected event record actually occurred, and

the instructions that cause a programmable processor to modify a selected one of the event records comprise instructions that cause a programmable processor to add the time at which the event actually occurred to the selected event record.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to add an additional event record to the incident record based on input received from the user,

the additional event record including information that describes an event not associated with the selected treatment protocol that occurred during treatment of the patient.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

receive information that describes an event not associated with the selected treatment protocol that occurred during treatment of the patient from a device; and

add an additional event record that includes the received information and information identifying the device that provided the received information to the incident record.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, in which the device comprises one of a computer-aided dispatch system and an external defibrillator used to treat the patient during the medical emergency.

31. The computer-readable medium of claim 29, in which the information received from the device includes a time that the event occurred, the medium further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

adjust the time based on a current time indicated by a clock; and

store the adjusted time within the additional event record.

32. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

receive a narrative from the user; and

include the narrative within the incident record.

33. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

receive information relating to medications used by the patient from the user; and

include the medication information within the incident record.

34. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

store information relating to a plurality of drugs, the information including dosage information for the drugs;

display information relating to one of the drugs selected by the user;

receive information relating to the patient from the user; and

display a dosage calculated based on the information relating to the patient and the dosage information to the user.

35. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to:

for one of the event records included within the incident record, determine that the respective time that the respective event was expected to occur has expired; and

issue an alarm to alert the user of the expiration.

36. The computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions that cause a programmable processor to generate a report that includes information stored within the incident record.