Ariola questions why stroke call was triaged as unknown
Ariola asks whether the child was entered as an unknown condition rather than a level one. Maiano confirms it went in as unknown because it did not reach an EMS dispatcher for triage; he says EMS dispatch was adequately staffed with 26 alarm receiving dispatchers, and proper triage likely would have classified it around segment three rather than segment four.
So basically what you're saying is that a child who is a cardiac patient showing signs of a stroke was put into a system as an unknown condition.
Is that how it went into the system?
That's correct.
That's how it went into the system.
And instead of a level one, which is the most serious of conditions, as it should have been coded,
because of the lack of staffing for EMS and for the dispatchers at that moment, it was not put in as a level one.
So first, the dispatch center was staffed adequately at that time for that time of the morning.
The dispatch center does have staggered staffing in to meet our call volume throughout the day and during high periods of demand.
So we did have the proper amount of ARDs in that would be answering the phone for what the typical call volume would be for that day.
There were 26 alarm receiving dispatches in at that time.
Had this call been triaged by EMS, a series of questions would have been asked, and the dispatcher would have entered this information into the system, and the computer triage would have categorized this differently than an unknown.
What category, based on the answers to the questions that the caller gave, I can't predetermine what it would be without asking those questions and getting the answers and inputting them.
But it would have most likely been classified as one of an instance that would have been around a segment three, which is a higher priority than an unknown, which is a segment four.
But the reality is it never did get.
to an FDMY dispatcher.
That's correct.
It did not get to an EMS dispatcher.
However, it was in the system to be dispatched.
At no time does any call get lost in the system.
When we are unable to reach an EMS dispatcher, NYPD does put it into the system, and the system and the dispatchers are consistently looking for ambulances to respond to those calls.
But there was no dispatcher that answered that could then further ask questions and realize that this was a level one.
And so, but it wasn't just one call, it was four calls that a dispatcher did not respond to and did not get further information for this child.
So how many people do you estimate fall into this category where they are in the system?
A dispatcher has not gotten any additional information, and lives could be at risk because those questions were not asked so that they could properly categorize them and get an ambulance there.