29 Nov Early Warning Score System for Ambulance Service
Early Warning Scores (EWS) have been used for many years in-hospital to identify deteriorating patients and rapidly intervene. Ambulance services in Scotland and Qatar have been using an EWS in the prehospital setting. Scotland Ambulance Service uses it as a tool to identify deteriorating patients (including Sepsis), notify receiving facilities early, and initiate treatment. Hamad Medical Corporation’s Ambulance Service is a tiered EMS system and uses the EWS on the ambulance to quickly identify deteriorating patients which triggers an expedited transport and a request for a critical care paramedic intercept. Below is an article I wrote for the National Association of EMS Physicians News in May 2014 profiling the Qatar Early Warning Score (QEWS).
David M. Williams, Ph.D. is a researcher, consultant, & chief executive of the international consulting firm Medic Health. He is also an improvement advisor and faculty for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. Contact him at www.medichealth.com.