Jurnal internasional afrika vol.10 issue 4 2020
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
An analysis of the descriptors of acute myocardial infarction used by South Africans when calling for an ambulance from a private emergency call centre
Dublin Core
Title
Jurnal internasional afrika vol.10 issue 4 2020
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
An analysis of the descriptors of acute myocardial infarction used by South Africans when calling for an ambulance from a private emergency call centre
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
An analysis of the descriptors of acute myocardial infarction used by South Africans when calling for an ambulance from a private emergency call centre
Subject
Acute myocardial infarction
Emergency medical dispatchers
Heart attack
Chest pain
Emergency medical dispatchers
Heart attack
Chest pain
Description
Introduction: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a time sensitive emergency. In resource limited settings,
prompt identification and management of patients experiencing AMI in the pre-hospital setting may minimise
the negative consequences associated with overburdened emergency medical and hospital services. Expedited
care thus, in part, relies on the dispatch of appropriate pre-hospital medical providers by emergency medical
dispatchers. Identification of these patients in call centres is challenging due to a highly diverse South African
society, with multiple languages, cultures, and levels of education. The aim of this study was therefore, to
describe the terms used by members of the South African public when calling for an ambulance for patients
suffering an AMI.
Methods: In this qualitative study, we performed content analysis to identify keywords and phrases that callers
used to describe patients who were experiencing an advanced life support (ALS) paramedic-diagnosed AMI.
Using the unique case reference number of randomly selected AMI cases, original voice recordings between the
caller and emergency medical dispatcher at the time of the emergency were extracted and transcribed verbatim.
Descriptors of AMI were identified, coded and categorised using content analysis, and quantified.
Results: Of the 50 randomly selected calls analysed, 5 were not conducted in English. The descriptors used by
callers were found to fall into three categories; Pain: Thorax, No pain: Thorax and Ill- health. The code that
occurred most often was no pain, heart related (n = 16; 23.2%), followed by the code describing pain in the chest
(n = 15; 21.7%).
Conclusion: South African callers use a consistent set of descriptors when requesting an ambulance for a patient
experiencing an AMI. The most common of these are non-pain descriptors related to the heart. These descriptors
may ultimately be used in developing validated algorithms to assist dispatch decisions. In this way, we hope to
expedite the correct level of care to these time- critical patients and prevent the unnecessary dispatch of lim-
itedly available ALS paramedics to inappropriate cases.
prompt identification and management of patients experiencing AMI in the pre-hospital setting may minimise
the negative consequences associated with overburdened emergency medical and hospital services. Expedited
care thus, in part, relies on the dispatch of appropriate pre-hospital medical providers by emergency medical
dispatchers. Identification of these patients in call centres is challenging due to a highly diverse South African
society, with multiple languages, cultures, and levels of education. The aim of this study was therefore, to
describe the terms used by members of the South African public when calling for an ambulance for patients
suffering an AMI.
Methods: In this qualitative study, we performed content analysis to identify keywords and phrases that callers
used to describe patients who were experiencing an advanced life support (ALS) paramedic-diagnosed AMI.
Using the unique case reference number of randomly selected AMI cases, original voice recordings between the
caller and emergency medical dispatcher at the time of the emergency were extracted and transcribed verbatim.
Descriptors of AMI were identified, coded and categorised using content analysis, and quantified.
Results: Of the 50 randomly selected calls analysed, 5 were not conducted in English. The descriptors used by
callers were found to fall into three categories; Pain: Thorax, No pain: Thorax and Ill- health. The code that
occurred most often was no pain, heart related (n = 16; 23.2%), followed by the code describing pain in the chest
(n = 15; 21.7%).
Conclusion: South African callers use a consistent set of descriptors when requesting an ambulance for a patient
experiencing an AMI. The most common of these are non-pain descriptors related to the heart. These descriptors
may ultimately be used in developing validated algorithms to assist dispatch decisions. In this way, we hope to
expedite the correct level of care to these time- critical patients and prevent the unnecessary dispatch of lim-
itedly available ALS paramedics to inappropriate cases.
Creator
Chloe Buma, Colleen Saunders, Jennifer Watermeyer, Willem Stassen
Date
18 June 2020
Contributor
peri irawan
Format
pdf
Language
english
Type
text
Files
Citation
Chloe Buma, Colleen Saunders, Jennifer Watermeyer, Willem Stassen, “Jurnal internasional afrika vol.10 issue 4 2020
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
An analysis of the descriptors of acute myocardial infarction used by South Africans when calling for an ambulance from a private emergency call centre,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 5, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/1833.
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
An analysis of the descriptors of acute myocardial infarction used by South Africans when calling for an ambulance from a private emergency call centre,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed February 5, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/1833.