A group of emergency physicians is calling on state officials to expand training for 911 dispatchers to improve survival rates of residents who experience a sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital.
In Rhode Island, the survival rate for sudden cardiac arrests outside of a hospital is about 10 percent, compared with 50- to 60-percent in states where 911 dispatchers are trained to provide emergency medical instructions.
“Today, if you were to call 911 and your grandmother had collapsed on the floor and you did not know CPR, you probably wouldn’t be getting instructions on how to start CPR,’’ Dr. Catherine Cummings, president of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said. “You would be sort of waiting for the ambulance to arrive.”
That wait time can make the difference between life and death, according to The American Heart Association, which in 2017 gave its highest recommendation to telephone coaching CPR for emergency responders.
Rhode Island is the only state in New England where 911 operators are not certified to coach callers on how to perform CPR. In states with certified Emergency Medical Dispatch Centers, 911 operators also can instruct callers about how to control bleeding, relieve choking and help someone overdosing until emergency responders arrive, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Emergency Medical Services.
“What it does is it trains them, not only to provide instructions, but to go through an algorithm based upon what the chief complaint is and then be able to help that person,’’ Jason Rhodes, chief of the state health department’s Center for Emergency Medical Services, said. “So it’s in essence putting an EMT – a person with EMT knowledge – in the dispatch center. “
The health department’s stroke-prevention task force’s 2016 report recommended a dispatcher certification program based on the current emergency medical dispatch standards.
updated 1:15 p.m.
