Some defibrillators were flashing warning lights alerting paramedics they were about to go dead, a report to councillors in Staffordshire has revealed. Bosses reported the problem to the National Patient Safety Agency and ordered a review of procedures.

Meanwhile, the death of a patient who suffered a heart attack while unsupervised in the back of a police van on the way to hospital is also included in West Midland Ambulance Service’s self-assessment report.

via Express & Star.

The standard is designed to ensure that equipment cannot harm crew and passengers in the event of a crash and specifies the requirements for the design, test methods, performance and equipping of road ambulances for the transport of sick or injured persons.

via Bapco Journal.

Given the astonishing pace of medical technology innovation, you would be forgiven for thinking that the modern ambulance must surely be a slick box of tricks on wheels.

But from a design point of view, the ambulance has changed very little in the past 30 years or so. In fact, the basic concept of ’swoop and scoop’ to hospital that is still largely in place dates back even further – despite changing healthcare paradigms.

Read the full article at The Engineer.

TeleGuide 111 is an advanced content suite which has been optimised specifically for NHS 111, the service for all non-emergency NHS calls.

With potential large call volumes, the choice of clinical assessment content can have serious budgetary implications.

TeleGuide 111 enables NHS 111 organisations to deliver a fast, safe, symptom-based triage and prioritisation when assessing patients over the telephone.

“TeleGuide 111 is the right option for 111 services,” said Dr Jean Challiner, Clinical Solutions’ Chief Medical Officer.

via Hospital IT Europe

Read the full article  The 10 coolest products at EMS World Expo 2011 at EMS1.com

The charity says the number of patients requiring its bariatric vehicles around the country has continued to increase over the past four years.

About 20 transfers a week are made in the vehicles, which can carry patients weighing up to 70st (444kg) and cost £70,000 each.

via BBC News.

The Innovation Expo brings together NHS exhibitors from across England as well as leading healthcare companies, showcasing the very best of healthcare innovations from the UK and abroad.

Smart Pod’s revolutionary design takes the best features from the present day ambulance and combines them with revolutionary new functions including an expandable mobile treatment centre and Smart Infection Control along with a raft of clinical innovations that utilise state of the art communications technologies.

The ‘Smart Pod’ transforms into a mini treatment centre, providing fast treatment in an emergency or a major incident. It also fulfils the traditional function of an ambulance, treating patients whilst transporting them to hospital, where needed.

via Medical News Today.

Bridge master David Anderson has issued a reminder that there is a four-ton weight limit on the iconic bridge between Bristol and North Somerset.

Some ambulances bought recently by the Great Western Ambulance Service GWAS weigh more than five tons.

via BBC NEWS

The new ambulances are currently in build and will enter into service alongside 60 Movanos already operated by the Trust since last year. Once deliveries are complete the model will make up to half of their fleet of 275 emergency ambulances.

They will operate out of all the Regional ambulance stations from which over 720,000 emergency calls are responded to each year. During their five years in service the ambulances will be worked hard with each covering at least 250,000 miles.

Read full article: Vauxhall Van News

From the developer, Wuff, site:

“Full Code Pro includes a user customizable list of the most common cardiac arrest drugs including pressors, antiarrhythmic, parasympathetic blockers, and a host of other medications.

Where Full Code is designed for simplicity, Full Code Pro is setup to allow for more information to be recorded by EMS professionals.

Full Code Pro retains the same functionality as Full Code and lists each intervention as a color coded button so that EMS personnel can simply and easily instruct even a an untrained bystander what to do by calling out the color corresponding to the treatment. With an editable drug list, users can incorporate their system protocols into the medication list.

With Full Code Pro, the paramedics, EMT-Bs, nurses and EMS personnel can focus on patient care, critical interventions and achieving positive outcomes without sacrificing proper documentation. The reports generated by a cardiac arrest are among the most closely scrutinized in the business.

Cardiac arrests are some of the most dynamic, high intensity situations that EMS professionals face and require a great deal of training and knowledge to manage. In these scenarios, a large number of tasks need to be performed and documented by a limited number of people. Documenting the treatments while they happen is critical to making sure that each and every intervention is properly noted. During a cardiac arrest, there isn’t time to write long notes, spend time hunting through menu after menu of routine treatment options or ask a bystander to learn on the fly.

Full Code Pro for the iPhone/iTouch allows EMS personnel to effectively record the critical EMS interventions during a cardiac arrest. With Full Code Pro every critical intervention from CPR, defibrillation or securing an airway to venous access, drug administration and patient packaging, is immediately documented in an instantly accessible and easy-to-use log.

Full Code Pro includes a visual & auditory 2 minute update alarm, helping to reduce the “tunnel vision” effect the high intensity work load of a full code sometimes creates and the corresponding delay in switching positions at the recommended 2 minute interval. Research shows that the quality of CPR compression goes down at 1 minute and after 2 minutes the CPR is becoming ineffective. The 2 minute warning reminds EMS personnel when it’s time to rotate positions so that high quality CPR compressions, the most important factor in positive outcomes for patients, are maintained with minimal interruption.

Created by Paramedics in one of the nation’s most aggressive EMS systems, Full Code Pro is designed to allow EMS personnel to focus on patient care without compromising proper documentation.”

Full Code Pro is available in the apple iTunes store here

Thanks to @gfriese on Twitter for the story.

Editor’s note: ParamedicUK’s Kevin McKeown is currently working on a brand new iPhone application specifically for UK ambulance clinicians. As soon as it’s ready we’ll bring you detailed information.