eMEDS Elite

Knowing the Difference between Closed Call and Non-Closed Call Rules

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

There are two types of validation rules:

  • Closed Call Rules — You may not post the patient report without filling in these fields. Note the circle with a slash on the right side of the validation rule.
    Elite Validation Rule

 

 

  • Non-Closed Call Rules — You may post the patient report without filling in these fields (but ask yourself if the quality of the report is suffering without the data before you post). Note that there is no circle with a slash on this one.
    Elite Validation Rule

 

 

 

Note: Of course, you should be adding all relevant details from the call into your report (required or not). Please refer back to your training about report-writing and narratives for proper technique.

Choosing the Right Selection in Elite When Your Hospital (or FROMS) Isn’t Listed

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Scenario: The rookie on your shift hurt himself doing something too embarrassing to note here. It’s not serious enough of an injury to go to the hospital but you are taking him to FROMS. FROMS isn’t listed along with the hospitals in Elite.

The destination name you should choose is Other Facility – 888. The same applies if you are going to any hospital not listed. Please remember to provide the extra detail in your narrative.

Elite Destination Name Field

Charging the CF-20 Toughbook

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

As you may have noticed, there are two charger ports for the CF-20 — one on the tablet and one on the base/keyboard.

  • If you plug in the charger on the tablet port, only the tablet receives the charge. (You will see a charge light for the tablet and a red light for the keyboard.)
  • If you plug in the charger on the base/keyboard, both receive the charge. (You will see a charge light for the tablet and another yellow charge light for the keyboard.)

Using the CF-20 Camera for eMEDS Reports

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

Personnel may no longer use their own cameras for EMS incidents, now that the department is providing cameras on the CF-20 Toughbooks. The overall process is two-fold:

  1. Take the picture (saved in the Windows My Pictures folder).
  2. Attach to the eMEDS patient report (optional, as you may also just show hospital personnel the picture from the Windows folder instead)

Note: You may only use the CF-20’s camera for an incident if it is specifically for patient care (i.e., to show hospital personnel items such as auto accidents, medication lists, etc). Additionally, please note that you are not permitted to take video — only photos. One final point: Each picture will be wiped from the folder automatically, 24 hours after it is saved to the Windows folder.

To take a picture with the Toughbook:

  • Click the Menu button, located at the bottom of the screen (next to the Validate button).
  • Click the Attachments button.
  • Click the Add New button.
  • Expand the Document Type drop-down list and select Other Picture/Graphic.
  • Click either the Take Picture button (to take the photo then and there) or the Browse button to navigate to a saved photo. (For the former, tap the screen to take the picture. For the latter, select the saved photo and tap the Open button).
  • Click the two successive OK buttons.

Reattaching the CF-20 Tablet to the Keyboard

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

You have been working with the CF-20 as a tablet and want to reattach it to the keyboard.

With the computer unfolded as though it were attached and the screen was separated at about a 90 degree angle from the screen:

  • Ensure you are facing the keyboard and that the screen is level with the tablet screen facing you, parallel to you.
  • Align the screen above its dock.
    • The bottom of the tablet is this:
      CF-20 Tablet Screen
    • The docking mechanism on the keyboard/bottom half of the computer is this:CF-20 Computer Bottom Half
  • Press down evenly and simultaneously on both sides until you hear each side click into place.

 

Separating the CF-20 Tablet from the Keyboard

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

If you find the Toughbook CF-20 bulky for use while writing your eMEDS patient report, you may want to consider separating the tablet from the keyboard and just carrying the tablet with you.

Note two things first:

CF-20 Lock and Release Switches

 

 

  1. The lock/unlock switch: Make sure that you flip the switch up to unlock the device before you attempt to separate the tablet from the keyboard. In the image above, the switch is in the locked position.
  2. Release switch: Slide the Release Switch to the right (as far as it will go) and it will stop in place. If it jumps back to the left, you have not fully released the tablet.

After you have addressed both of these, the screen/tablet lifts straight upward and away from the rest of the device. (Remember not to leave the keyboard in the hospital, the patient’s home/incident location or elsewhere that is not under MCFRS control.)

Docking the CF-20 Stylus Pen

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

You have just been handed the CF-20 for your eMEDS reports and you’ve been told that you must use attached stylus pen instead of your own pen.

(By the way: You must use the built-in stylus pen and not your own pen.)

Knowing we are limited in pens (by the way, we are limited in stylus pens, so please do not break your pen), you want to know the correct way to dock and undock your pen.

Undocking the Stylus Pen:

The pen snaps out. Just pull the pen out by the attached cord. The pen and cord are located on the right side of the machine.

Docking the Stylus Pen:

  • Point the pen with the tip up, parallel to the top of the tablet (so that the Word Toughbook is above and to the right of the screen).
  • Insert the tip into the groove so that the pen angles toward the tablet’s reserved pen space while keeping the bottom of the pen farther out from the tablet.
  • Move the tip up as far as it will go without forcing it.
  • Snap the bottom of the pen into place.

Note: If the above steps go smoothly, you have docked the pen successfully. If you feel like you need to force the pen at any time, you are not docking the pen correctly. here is the pen, before docking and after docking:

CF20 Pen about to be docked

CF20 Pen Docked

Recording Patient Hand-Over Times Accurately

Posted on by Jeff Feiertag

PT handover times are increasingly more important and every minute counts!

The hand-over time for you to record in eMEDS refers to when the patient goes into the bed from the cot (not when you complete your report and not when you restock the unit).

Please try to record the time as close to the real time as you can.

 

Note from the EMS leadership: 

In reality, we know that you could get a room, put the patient in a bed and then sit there waiting for a nurse to take report and care of the patient for a long time.  A strict reading of Emtala would suggest that the hospital accepts the patient when the charge nurse takes a brief report and assigns a bed. However, when looking for a benchmark that we (MCFRS) and the hospitals could agree upon, the act of physically putting the patient on the bed seemed to be easiest and less prone to misinterpretation.