Electronic Patient Records Introduced in Ambulances

Paramedics responding to medical emergencies will now have a faster and more accurate way to track patient information.

Emergency Health Services (EHS) has approved expansion of a pilot project that will put new tools and software in all of the province's ambulances as well as EHS Lifeflight's aircraft by January 2008.

A contract was signed with Medusa Medical Technologies Inc. in August 2006 to begin testing their electronic patient care reporting software in a limited number of ambulances in the Halifax area. After a successful field trial period, the software was approved for implementation in all 150 EHS ambulances as well as for the provincial air program.

"Nova Scotia is recognized as having the best ambulance system in Canada, and one of the best in North America. Our ground and air ambulances play a critical role in emergency health care in our province," said Health Minister Chris d'Entremont. "Good patient care requires good information. This new system will help paramedics track a patient's condition and treatment decisions more accurately and more quickly, allowing paramedics to focus more time on patient care."

More than 800 EHS paramedics will be trained to use the software over the next eight months.

"Digital patient-care records provide a more comprehensive view of pre-hospital care than paper documentation ever could. Reports that used to take months to compile can now be generated in minutes. This will assist in developing enhanced procedures and practices for the entire province," said Scott Campbell, CEO of Medusa Medical Technologies Inc.

Nova Scotia will be the first province in Canada to offer all of its residents the benefits of electronic patient records throughout the ambulance system. In addition to the benefits for patient's and paramedics, the new software includes data analysis tools that will allow the Department of Health to more easily generate reports to measure the performance of the system and to assist in making policy decisions related to the ambulance system.