Category: Best Practices

EMS agencies and first responders continue to fight COVID-19 on the frontlines in a health emergency unprecedented in recent history. And while health care professionals face the most immediate risks…

Data is everywhere on the fire field and information is constantly being recorded and shared. Whether it is new “smart” PPE that can monitor hazardous chemicals in the air, trucks…

When you’re looking for new EMS scheduling software it be a challenge to know just what to look for to help your agency stay on top of schedules, maximize time efficiencies and…

Curious as to how you can improve accountability and gain better insight into your employee scheduling data? Take a look at adding a biometric (fingerprint ID) time clock into your time and attendance…

EMS is fast-paced with a multitude of moving parts. Keeping up with the schedules within your station using manual processes can be exhausting and extremely time-consuming. Without reliable EMS reporting…

Property pre-planning and inspections software allows fire departments to better serve their communities by streamlining the pre-planning and inspection process and improving situational awareness during an emergency through access to…

ESO marked the start of 2020 with the release of a new set of industry predictions papers, leveraging its years of expertise along with an extensive collection of data submitted…

When a patient picks up the phone to call 911, the clock starts ticking. As the ambulance arrives and the EMS team goes to work, healthcare begins and does not…

As an industry leader in fire, pre-hospital, and hospital industries, ESO encounters a wealth of data from its clients and partners. Each year, fire data is collected and analyzed to…

You most likely know what the most common types of calls your fire agency receives on a regular basis; much of it depends on your communities and their particular characteristics….

Accurate documentation for EMS agencies is key to success both in the field, and in the office. Not only does it improve patient outcomes, it also provides accurate claims processing,…

Every so often, a concept that has been passed down for generations of first responders is questioned, and surprising new data potentially changes one of the most basic, accepted treatment…

In September 2018, the powerful Hurricane Florence made landfall in the Carolinas, causing catastrophic damage by dumping more than 30” of rain, sustaining winds of up to 140 mph, and…

Is it becoming more dangerous to work in the EMS industry? Recent studies, both international and domestic, are suggesting that EMS personnel are increasingly experiencing workplace abuse, both physical and…

Talk of “workplace diversity” is nothing new across many industries. But when it comes to healthcare and emergency medicine, creating a workforce that reflects the communities being served can help…

After decades of blurred lines and state-driven interpretation of the Controlled Substance Act, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is refining and clarifying its requirements specific to EMS agencies…

For most Americans, a typical day at the office comes with the usual ups and downs, some stress, difficult clients, perhaps some inner-office politics. For first responders, on the other…

At the end of 2018, ESO released its second annual EMS Index, an in-depth report covering key data points and trends in the EMS industry, based on more than 7.58…

In 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released concerning statistics about the use and abuse of opioids in the U.S., sparking a nationwide response to the duly…

If you are a part of an EMS agency in any U.S. state – or the majority of U.S. territories – you undoubtedly are aware of the efforts of the…

For fire agencies everywhere, inspecting properties within a community is a key role that fulfills not only national, state, and local safety requirements but can actually help increase efficiencies within…

In firefighting, property inspection plays a key role served by fire departments in their communities, creating not only safer communities on a daily basis but also paving the way for…

Data in the fire industry has been a forefront topic in recent years, and for good reason. Tracking and analyzing data, statistics, and trends can be an extremely powerful tool…

Have you ever wondered exactly what people who approve fire grant applications are looking for when they make their decisions? If you’ve ever wished for an insider’s perspective on fire…

If you’ve ever found yourself painfully re-entering data from a call from one software tool to another, you’ve probably felt the frustration of those duplicated efforts. With numerous other tasks…

As the nation celebrates National EMS Week, EMS agencies and citizens alike across the U.S. are recognizing the important work emergency health professionals accomplish in their communities. An important element…

Stroke is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, meaning there is an increased need for EMS to recognize the signs of a stroke in prehospital settings…

When it comes to improving the health and safety of our EMS professionals, patients, and communities, we all want to do better. If your EMS agency is like most, there’s…

If you work at a fire department you use software every day to document calls, perform checks, run reports and more. Software has become an integral part of the fire…

For today’s professional EMS and fire agencies, data analysis is a necessary component of daily operating procedures. Not only does it ensure that your agency remains in compliance and can…

There are more than 7.4 million mental health–related emergency department (ED) visits in the U.S. every year, and of these, approximately 30 percent arrive by ambulance. Unfortunately, due to a…

They’re heroic and brave and can handle any situation. They run towards danger while others are running away. They enter a fire and emerge with rescued people, animals, property. They…

New and free tools are now available to help first responders be more prepared for emergency response as well as more efficiently locate victims, team members, and community resources, all…

If you’ve ever had a quality improvement project spin its wheels and get nowhere – or put countless hours of effort and work into implementing an intervention just to have…

February is American Heart Month and there is perhaps no better time to focus on a concerning statistic for American firefighters: cardiac fatalities are the leading cause of death among…

It is predicted that an additional 3.4 million U.S. adults will have had a stroke by 2030, a 20.5% increase in prevalence from 2012. With this rising prevalence of strokes,…

Although firefighters primarily think of people they protect and serve as members of their community, they are, in fact, also customers. And just like any business, it’s important for executives…

Performance metrics are becoming increasingly important in the health care industry, and EMS agencies are beginning to feel the effect. “Value-based health care” is on the rise and the percentage…

On an especially busy shift or during long hours, it may be tempting to rush through the electronic patient care record (ePCR), or feel compelled to move on quickly to…

When going through medical school, most future physicians imagine saving lives, making a difference in the health of countless adults and children, or maybe even discovering the cure for some terrible…

We all played telephone as kids. Where you tell your neighbor one thing, and the last person who hears it, hears something totally different. Or, less amusing and more common,…

In emergency response, EMTs have traditionally focused on the immediate impression and care of a patient, rapid transport to the appropriate facility, and, finally, a successful hand off to an…

It’s not uncommon for people today to conduct a wide range of daily tasks and business remotely. From online banking, to grocery shopping, to airline reservations, and even registering your…

Today’s firefighting agency has an invaluable tool in its mission to protect lives and properties: the thermal imaging camera (TIC). A TIC is a device that detects infrared energy, and…

  Why Does It Matter? The Joint Commission requires hospitals to keep the “record of care, treatment and services”, which includes the complete clinical record. And of course, the complete…

More and more hospitals are switching to or starting to look at digital early alerting systems to replace radios for communication with EMS. And for good reason. Early alerting systems…

Emergency departments are complex institutions with multiple working parts. Everyone within the department has a unique and vital role to play in ensuring patients receive appropriate care. One of the…

Hospital readmissions can pose a real problem for health care providers, not only in keeping emergency departments (EDs) packed and overt-stressed, but in driving costs higher and higher, and causing…

In 1966, a famous whitepaper was published and made its way all the way to the desk of the President of the United States, offering research that proved that, at…

Earlier this year, we identified a number of trends we believed would have an impact on EMS organizations in 2018. The prevailing theme is data. Or, rather, the need for…

As healthcare providers and administrators continue to pursue the so-called Triple Aim – to improve patient experience of care, to improve the health of populations, and to reduce the per…

As technology and the tools used on the fire field become increasingly and progressively “smarter,” the data collected from incidents, operations, preplans and more is becoming richer and more informative.   To keep up with the newest standards…

Data is available in an over-abundance in health care settings, and a patient’s experience is becoming more and more digitized. The key, however, is knowing how to process and use…

When it comes to building out a property pre-planning program, it’s no surprise that you need to make a plan of attack for launching your program before you even start…

As a wide range of industries rely more and more on the Internet of Things (IoT) to make life more seamless, individuals are recording and sharing information at unprecedented levels….

If you’re like many EMS service providers across the U.S., you’re probably preparing for – or currently working towards – integration of the new NEMSIS Version 3 standards for your…

The largest hospital systems in the nation coordinate numerous treatment facilities, process thousands of transports, work with dozens of EMS agencies, and treat thousands of patients. And while the health…

Whether your fire agency has a dedicated fire inspector, or the task falls to a combination of staff and field personnel, inspection and pre-planning is an important and necessary part…

The assessment and treatment of acute stroke patients by EMS technicians is on the cusp of a major shift, similar to that experienced in recent years for the screening and…