[Scan-DC] New radio terms for PG EMS

[Alan Henney]

Prince George’s County is planning to have EMS units provide clearance
codes for EMS calls.

1) Communications will provide a letter designation for each EMS call
(E,D,C,B,A,O,N).  This is from the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch
System (AMPDS), developed by Medical Priority Consultants.

E- Echo: Cardiac arrest (most severe)
D- Delta:  BLS Ambulance (hot), paramedics (hot) and ambulance (hot)
C- Charlie:  Paramedics (hot) and ambulance (cold)
B- Bravo:  Closest BLS (hot) and ambulance (cold)
A- Alpha:  Closest BLS (cold) and ambulance (cold)
O- Omega:  Referral/Alternate Care

An Echo response is the most critical.  Omega is the least critical.
Actual response assignments vary depending upon the jurisdiction (the
above are examples).  "Hot" is priority and "cold" is a non-priority
response.

2) The EMS crew will provide communications with a letter
(A,B,V,R,N,O) which represents the type of transport:

A- ALS: ALS provider on board.
B- BLS: Career BLS personnel on board.
V= Volunteer: Volunteer BLS crew.
R= Refusal: Patient refusal.
N= No Patient.
O= Other- used if patient were transported by police or helicopter.

EMS personnel will combine the letter provided by communications in
section 1 with the letter from section 2.  The crew will provide this
two-character code when returning from a call and placing the unit in
service.

For example: “Ambulance 801 is ready for service, Bravo-Victor.”  This
was a Bravo response on a volunteer BLS ambulance.