User reflection on actions in ambulance telemedicine systems

Much information is shared, interpreted and recreated between caller, emergency dispatch personnel and ambulance crew during an emergency call. This paper studies the use of reflection in the ambulance control center based on the information an ambulance crew produces during patient treatment in the ambulance. The study is based on an ethnographical single case study of a Danish ambulance control center that uses a system called “amPHI” to monitor outgoing and homebound ambulance runs from scene of injury to arrival at the emergency department. The paper finds that the control center uses the documented and shared information to support organizational learning, increase effectiveness of interaction with callers and support social practice in the control center. The reflections are a result of the health professional backgrounds of the emergency medical dispatch staff that enable them to understand and use the feedback delivered through the system. The paper argues for broadening the scope of telemedicine use outside the boundaries of communication between ambulance and emergency department.