Riverside County Grand Jury
• 2022-2023
You Call 9-1-1: Then What? Riverside County hospital emergency department delays may impact your care
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 4 findings
F1
Patients remaining on ambulance gurneys experience extended delays prior to transfer of care. This is common at most hospital emergency departments in Riverside County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Riverside County Board of Supervisors to review, approve, and support programs, including telehealth and Safety-Net Ambulance Programs, throughout Riverside County to alleviate ambulance patient off load delays as recommended by EMS and Riverside County Fire Department. Finding 1, Finding 2, Finding 4 Financial impact: minimal to moderate, ~$200,000 per “fully stocked” Safety-Net Ambulance Program Time frame:
F2
When ambulances and fire personnel experiencing ambulance patient offload delays (APOD), the dispatch system has fewer available ambulances and fire vehicles for response to 9-1-1 calls. This is a public safety issue.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
EMS to encourage and facilitate other hospitals in Riverside County to systematically work with REMSA to implement improvements similar to Riverside University Health Systems (RUHS) and other high-performing hospitals using “best practices”, to decrease APOD at the hospital emergency departments. Finding 1, Finding 3 16 Financial impact: minimal to moderate Time frame:
F3
Riverside University Health System (RUHS), as well as other Riverside County high performing hospitals, have assessed and implemented improvements necessary for their hospital emergency department, specifically to reduce their time of APOD.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
As an interim solution, Riverside County Fire Department and AMR to utilize available personnel to relieve delayed fire and/or ambulance teams at the hospital emergency departments. The goal is for efficient transfer of care of the patient to the hospital emergency departments while releasing the emergency vehicles for the next 9-1- 1 call. Finding 1, Finding 2, Finding 3 Financial impact: minimal to moderate Time frame:
F4
Many professional organizations, county departments, and state government have investigated and reported on the issues of APOD (delays over 30 minutes at a hospital emergency department prior to the transfer of care). These efforts, while commendable, have not resolved the delays at all Riverside County hospitals.
No recommendations for this finding
Agency Responses 1
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
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