Registration of prehospital vital parameters

Aim The North Denmark Region implemented an electronic Prehospital Patient medical Record (PPR) in 2006. In 2015 a new version of PPR was implemented. Implementation of new technologies can be challenging, including structurally and organisational obstacles,1 which causes difficulty in achieving data completeness. We aimed to examine registrations of vital parameters in PPR before and after the new version of PPR. Method The cohort includes all patients to whom an ambulance was dispatched after an emergency 112-call in the North Denmark Region from 2007–2014 and 2016. We examined the distribution and registration of the first measurement of vital parameters. Results We identified 213.466 patients. Percentage of registrations from 2007 to 2014 vs 2016: Blood pressure (BP) 73% to 86% vs 81%, pulse 76% to 88% vs 82%, saturation (SAT) 72% to 85% vs 82%, Respiratory Rate (RR) 34% to 82% vs 77%, Glasgow-Coma-Scale (GCS) 54% to 92% vs 80%, VAS for pain 0% to 15% vs 21%. Data from all years showed normal distributions for systolic BP, diastolic BP, pulse and RR with mean (95% confidence interval) on: 141 (100;192), 84 (55;116), 92 (59;133), 21 (12;28), respectively. For SAT median (interquartile range) was: 97 (95–99). The GCS had 82% observations on 15. VAS had outliers scoring above 10 in 2016. Conclusion Registration increased from 2007 to 2014. A slight decrease except for VAS was seen in 2016 compared to 2014. Overall vital parameters were within normal ranges, however with outliers. Reference 1. . Grol R, Grol R. Improving patient care: The implementation of change in health care 2013;2nd ed. Chichester, West Sussex; Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell/BMJ Books. Conflict of interest None Funding None