The Tempe Fire Department has gone wireless in sending emergency medical documents to hospitals and ambulances.
The new system, Electronic Patient Care Reporting, or ePCR, is used to collect and store data in a consistent and efficient way, unlike the previous method of paper records, said Capt. Aaron Novack, EMS training for Tempe fire.
The system saves fire fighters time by storing information and allowing them to automatically pull up the information on patients who are seen on a regular basis, Novack said.
The system saves a patient's name, address, medication list, medical history and other basic information.
"Putting in that information would normally take us a long time to enter and now it will come up for us automatically," Novack said. "So that's one of the pluses for us."
ePCR is also useful when the fire department has to go to court and when the federal government requests information from the fire department, Novack said.
Tempe Fire will be using paper reports as they transition to wireless reports and are currently working on getting more computers for the crews, he added.
"Hopefully, by the first of the year we'll be in a position where we won't be using paper documentation anymore," Novack said. "There will still be times to use paper, but they'll be rare."
Josh Weiss, spokesman for Southwest Ambulance, said the group has been involved with the ePCR system since the beginning, and that they work directly with Tempe fire when responding to medical calls.
Southwest Ambulance has seen many benefits from the new system, he said.
"The benefits create a platform where it's very easy to share information between fire fighters, paramedics and the hospital," Weiss said. "It's just a lot easier to have it."
The system is also useful in the way it notices careless mistakes that may be overlooked on the paper recording system, such as an incorrect date of birth, he said.
The Tempe and Chandler fire departments are the only two departments in the Valley that have adopted this system and are up and running. Mesa and Gilbert aren't far behind, Novack said.
"Within the next five years, I would say the entire Valley will be doing this," Novack said.
Capt. Rick Apple, of the Mesa Fire Department EMS division, said Mesa Fire is currently in the process of evaluating the hardware and software.
"We'll definitely be going down that road," Apple said. "It's not a matter of are we going to, it's a matter of when are we going to."
Mesa Fire hopes to begin training in February or March, and be online by May or June.
"We want to be right in the forefront of that technology," Apple said.
But not all is perfect with the system, Novack said, with Tempe Fire experiencing some problems with the new technology.
The ePCR system has had some problems with losing cellular signal while attempting to fax or upload information and have also experienced some other basic computer problems, he said.
"We're hitting all of the speed bumps, we're taking all the hits for everyone else," Novack said. "The good side of that is we're kind of calling the shots. We're making the decisions that will hopefully guide the rest of the department in the decisions they make."
The system is not easy to use, but once the fire fighters learn how to use it properly they will be happy with the outcome, he said.
"It has a little bit of a learning curve but it is the wave of the future," Novack said. "It's the way everything's going too, and we're on the front of that wave."
Reach the reporter at: heather.m.turner@asu.edu.
