Record Phone and Dispatch Lines

Complete and accurate written documentation has long been recognized by the Emergency Medical Services as an important part of patient care and legal protection for the emergency care giver.  Any verbal communication regarding a patient’s condition and/or treatment could be as crucial, if not more crucial, than accurate written documentation on patient care.  This makes the ability to capture, store and retrieve verbal communications very important. 

We have determined your agency has an internal dispatch operation along with traditional patient treatment and transport exposures.  The use of telephones to receive requests for service at your dispatch facility and those communications between your dispatch center and fleet of vehicles is critical to assist in memorializing the service rendered.  Unless special provisions are made, currently these conversations are not recorded.  This could prove to be detrimental to your agency and/or individual care providers become involved in litigation regarding patient care.  Questions regarding services requested, patient condition, care, and times would have to be answered very subjectively, without the proof that recorded communication could provide. 

We recommend that your agency meet the following objectives to help reduce these exposures:

• All incoming requests for service are recorded.
• Verbal telecommunication related to patient care and/or medical protocol via, land line telephone, cellular phone and radio be recorded.