COVID-19, a pandemic that wrought havoc across the globe in 2020, forced health care sectors to address unimagined demand for life-saving equipment, treatment and services.

Paramedics and ambulance services at the forefront of pre-hospital care have had to quickly adapt to fast-changing circumstances to ensure ongoing care for patients while upholding measures for their own safety.

Answering the call

To assist clients amid the rapidly evolving threat of COVID-19, Interdev Technologies had to quickly adapt its software suite.

The goal was to provide clients with a dynamic solution that would help manage the demands of a pandemic and provide a mechanism to monitor and alert services regarding the health status of their community. They needed to do this in a way that could be implemented with no service outages and minimal disruption.

Rising to the occasion

Because of Interdev Technologies’ insight into the personal and professional demands on paramedics and their support teams, the company was able to react quickly and decisively. They developed updates to their suite of services to incorporate COVID-19 alerts and record and ultimately measure COVID-19 cases across the province.

Interdev Technologies collaborated with Ontario’s Ministry of Health, paramedic services, communication centres and health sector stakeholders to deliver an unparalleled solution to capture critical data that could be communicated and shared in real time.

Services swiftly incorporated COVID-19 triage into criteria for Ambulance Communications Officers (ACOs) to enable preliminary identification of potential cases. Interdev Technologies quickly integrated the following updates:

Situation Awareness Dashboard

Updated to generate real-time COVID alerts for hospitals, management staff and paramedics, and provide an overview of any clusters.

CADLink

Updated to incorporate early COVID-19 alert information

RadiusEMR

Updated to capture essential data from COVID-19 testing by community paramedics working with patients in isolation or as part of a testing regimen. This data can be transferred to other health agencies monitoring outbreaks.

iMedic ePCR

Updated to allow users to record a patient’s COVID-19 status.

DOT Viewer

Updated with access to a national paramedic service registry, allowing comparison of key performance indicators against specific regions in the country. The data is fundamental to better understanding strengths and assisting in the development of strategies to improve performance and safety.

“If you can dream it up, you can do it with DOT Viewer,” said Randy Mellow, President of the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada (PCC).

The updates provide users with fast, easy access to critical information by eliminating the need for data searches across numerous sources. With the ability to flag potential COVID-19 cases, paramedics are pre-alerted to the need for full PPE.

With oversight of COVID-19 calls in real time, senior personnel can better plan for resources including staff, vehicles and PPE. All stakeholders have the same view of the world at their fingertips. State-of-the art tools provide intuitive ways to visualize all the data at hand and develop comprehensive reports for stakeholders.

“If you can dream it up you can do it with DOT Viewer”

Randy Mellow President PCC

With COVID-19 testing conducted through the RadiusEMR tool, the updates also provide support for paramedics who deliver valuable services to communities that may otherwise continue to be at risk, such as the homeless and other vulnerable groups. Another feature gives services the option to incorporate a link to paramedics’ laptops, which enables patient-authorized access to Ministry of Health COVID test results.

Ongoing data analysisThe upgrades developed by Interdev Technologies, in collaboration with their clients, are a major asset in planning for any contingency where multiple priorities must be addressed. It allows users to detect and analyse patterns, monitor personnel and equipment needs, and collaborate with other stakeholders.With this specialised software, every facet of a paramedic or other healthcare service can be constantly measured and improved.

Continued COVID support

Interdev Technologies will continue to prioritize helping clients manage the deadly threat of COVID-19. The software was first created based on the needs of clients, their feedback and a unique appreciation of the constantly changing demands on their services.

“We pride ourselves on being responsive to services that paramedics need,” says Terrence Kuehn, CEO of Interdev Technologies. “With access to our software, around-the-clock technical assistance and client-centred support, paramedic services can more efficiently fulfil their mission to deliver optimum pre-hospital care, in times of COVID-19 and beyond.”

He stresses that Interdev Technologies has expert teams in research, development and technical support that are available every step of the way. “To all those working in paramedic services, thank you for keeping us safe,” Kuehn adds. “We are proud to support you 24/7/365.”