Canadian Validation of German Medical Emergency Datasets.

Medical Emergency Datasets (MEDs) are brief summarizations of an individual's medical history, providing vital patient information to emergency medical providers. A recent German study [1] evaluated whether MEDs are useful to local emergency physicians and paramedics, and which health data were relevant to their medical management. To validate of the German study internationally, Canadian physicians and paramedics were recruited to provide feedback on the utility of the German MEDs as well as their specific content. Original documents and surveys were translated to English directly, with a goal of collecting quantitative and qualitative feedback. Overall, physicians and paramedics found the MEDs to be useful in their evaluation of hypothetical medical scenarios. Most of the MED content was very useful, with some items appearing extraneous. The findings of this study will be used to inform future development of MEDs as well as to drive future research.

Emergency Data Management - Overcoming (Information) Borders.

BACKGROUND: In order to improve access to critical patient data in case of emergency, many countries have begun or intend to implement emergency datasets. In Germany, the German Medical Association developed a medical emergency dataset (MED), which provides the possibility to store information on prior diagnoses, medications, allergies and other emergency-relevant information on the German Electronic Health Card. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study is to evaluate how the MED can be used internationally. METHODS: A total of 64 paper-based emergency data sets were completed by primary care physicians in Germany, and were then evaluated by German clinicians, emergency physicians, and paramedics on the basis of fictitious emergency scenarios. Thirty randomly selected MEDs were then translated into English and will be evaluated by international emergency physicians and paramedics. RESULTS: In Germany, clinicians, emergency physicians and paramedics rated the emergency data set as very useful or useful in more than 70% of the reviewed cases. The international evaluation will start in September 2016, so these results are pending at this time. CONCLUSION: The first study results from Germany indicate high potential benefits of the emergency data set in real patient care situations. The subsequent tests will show whether the MED is also suitable for international use.