title: Call selection for the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service: implications for ambulance control.
abstract: The increasing sophistication of pre-hospital care, with paramedics and many types of 'rapid response' units, requires the use of advanced systems of ambulance control. The introduction of call selection by a paramedic in the ambulance control room significantly improved the tasking of the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. This paper illustrates the need for a system to grade 999 calls, so that the appropriate pre-hospital response can be directed to each patient.
authors.affiliation: Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, UK.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Coats
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Newton
mesh_terms: D017732:Air Ambulances; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013689:Telephone