An email audit of prehospital doctor activity in an area of the West Midlands

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the nature and extent of prehospital doctor activity in an area of the West Midlands by review of group email. To explore the use of email as a means of data collection among a group of prehospital doctors.

Methods: A retrospective review of data collected by a prehospital organisation's email based internet group.

Results: Nearly half of prehospital doctor calls were to road traffic accidents and nearly half of these were “serious”. Road traffic accidents involving pedestrians, trees, and motorcycles often resulted in fatalities. Doctors frequently performed medical interventions at scene. Midazolam and ketamine were administered commonly; the indications for their use varied. At two cases on scene anaesthesia was maintained for over an hour with ketamine.

Conclusions: There remains a role for prehospital doctors. Email provides a very useful medium to share information and facilitate audit among a group of doctors who do not meet on a regular basis or work in the same institution. A computerised proforma to be filled by doctors after each prehospital call is proposed in an attempt to standardise and gather information for future audit and discussion.