Evaluation of the performance of 115 medical emergency dispatchers in Tehran in dealing with patients with chest pain in 2018

The present study aims to determine the performance of “Tehran 115 medical emergency” dispatchers in providing services to patients with chest pain.

Chest pain is one of the most common problems for which individuals call medical emergency services. The pace, accuracy, and integration of services by medical emergency dispatchers are highly important to decrease mortality and disability rates.

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 397 voice records of 80 dispatchers in “Tehran 115 medical emergency services” about chest pain in January 2019. Data gathering was done using the Dispatcher Performance Assessment Checklist. All the obtained scores by the checklist were analyzed in SPSS (V.22).
Findings. All voice records demonstrated an acceptable performance of the dispatchers. The mean score of performance in consultation section was 18±2.66 ranged from 9 to 20. The mean score of performance in key questions section was 35.95±2.16 with a score range from 28 to 38. The total mean score of performance was 53.95±3.57 with a score range from 43 to 58. In addition, employment status (P=0.039) and work experience (P=0.020) were significantly related to dispatchers’ performance in terms of assessing chest pain.

Assessment according to the checklist items and provision of proper consultation services to the patients and patient companions by the 115 dispatchers resulted in a better and timely diagnosis, faster dispatch of ambulance, less damages sustained by heart patients, and prevention of death. The findings emphasized on the necessity of adhering to the questions algorithm and uniform work procedure by dispatchers nationwide. This should be an integral part of telephone triage. Observation of national standard prevents probable damages to patients due to wrong or personalized decision making.