The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division of the Department of Health completed training on an emsCharts system, an electronic data, patient-care reporting system. A total of 61 individuals, including staff emergency medical technicians, paramedics and administrators, Virgin Islands National Guard and Port Authority EMTs along with Highway Safety Administrators completed the trainings, which were sponsored by Virgin Islands Office of Highway Safety and National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, according to a press release issued on Tuesday by the V.I. Department of Health.
The VIEMS Division worked side by side with the hospitals, rescue, fire and other first response services to provide the highest quality of emergency care to those in need 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. “As mandated by law and internal policy, these responses require accurate reporting and documentation that in the past [were] daunting. The early version of documenting ‘paper reports’ was created in triplicate using carbon paper and stored in file cabinets. The documentation and reporting requirements became a quality assurance concern with increases in ambulance medical responses,” said Jacqueline Greenidge-Payne, EMS training officer.
A grant was provided by the Virgin Islands Office of Highway Safety and National Highway Safety Traffic Administration in 2009 for the VIEMS Division to purchase an electronic data, patient-care reporting system. Charles McSweeney of emsCharts provided training on St. Croix and St. Thomas for the entire staff.
Patient Care reports and documentation are now created electronically through a secure World Wide Web host site and stored there electronically, improving the overall efficiency and quality of EMS services.