Reasons Why EMS (Emergency Medical Service) Agencies Need a Tracking Solution

During the crisis, the emergency medical service helps a lot. When everybody is in a panic situation, emergency medical services are supporting our lives very well.

But things may get little out of hand for them also, for example, inventory which is possibly not been taken care of or it remains unmanaged.

The asset tracking solution helps in keeping everything in order and track record so that you should not worry about the assets or inventory being not managed properly at any time.

Need of Asset Tracking Solution in Hospitals' EMS

1. Inventory Tracking in Real-Time

Hospitals staff must update regularly about the medicines and other necessary inventories used in emergencies like first aid and first base treatment. With the assistance of an asset management software, you can also put on the alerts & notification for staff (or the responsible team).

So, whenever the stock is below the parameter, it will notify the responsible person (or team) about the same. So that they shall proceed for the refilling of the stock. This process is also known to set a reorder limit.

Also Read: Why Asset Tracking Solution Is So Important for Hospitals During a Pandemic?

Moreover, when the hospitals can keep track of inventory in real-time, it can be checked for how much stock is left or any inventory related information whenever they needed.

2. Medical Equipment Tracking

The asset tracking solution will assist the hospital staff to know how much critical equipment are there at each site and will have all analytics in a few minutes. Here, having precise information will give you the advantage to fulfill the requirements for emergency medical service needs.

Managing check-ins and check-outs of equipment on a daily basis is necessary. Such as keeping track of equipment from Ventilator, Microscope, Stethoscope, CT scanner to medical first aids and refilling of oxygen cylinders, and much more.

Asset tracking solution improves in organizational objectives by bar-coding significant documents such as financial records, medical supply reports, or physical inventory documents for auditing purposes.

Here, mobile phones are used as barcode scanners to check the item's check-in/check-out status or assign them to a specific location or person.

3. Asset Maintenance

In situations like COVID-19, we all know it is a very contagious disease. In hospitals, there are lots of coronavirus infected patients & other patients as well.

Hence, keeping them separate rooms and areas or shifting them to individual rooms will require extra equipment & assets sanitization, which is very necessary especially at this point of time.

There are lots of asset, equipment & life-saving devices which require maintenance. They must be kept clean & sanitized along with their maintenance which needs to be recalled also, which asset is sanitized and which is not. It is exhausting, time-taking as well as an important task.

During an emergency, you would not want your equipment to breakdown.  The asset tracking solution keeps track of assets and equipment and notifies you for asset maintenance. For accurate asset tracking, different techniques & technologies such as barcode, QR Code, RFID, NFC, IoT are used.

4. Ambulance Asset Tracking

One can easily scan barcodes and assign assets to a specific vehicle. It also allows you to confirm that each ambulance has defibrillators, spinal board, blood pressure cuffs, and other required equipment.  

Ambulances are mostly one of the most essential vehicles used by emergency medical services providers and people also rely on it during the time of need. GPS tracking systems are one of the most functional upgrades that ambulances use across the globe to provide better services. Optimum dispatching of appropriate ambulances ensures fast Emergency Medical Services and allows for timely patient transport.

The tracking software helps in monitor all important events such as when the ambulance was assigned for the pick-up, reached the incident location, time of arrival to hospital, and much more.

5. Decrease in Asset Loss

It also helps in keeping track of asset movement and capturing its movement history and shows the complete overview of all the assets individually. Like what asset is assigned to whom, where that asset is & when it will be returned, you can get to know answers to all of these questions.

Overall, it decreases asset loss and increases credibility. This makes the asset management process simple and effective. Also, you have the capability to add more information about an asset (if needed) for faster identification.

Having access to all this information, will reduce asset loss and track the accountability of each asset effectively.

Also Read: Smart Tags for Efficient Tracking in Healthcare Industry During a Pandemic

Characteristics of EMS

1. Asset Tracking & Reporting

Improve asset traceability by generating reports on items indulged in service, the location of assets, and the missing items. Tracking these emergency vehicles increase the transparency of data for any assets involved in the treatment provided under emergency medical service.

2. Optimize Physical Inventory

Perform physical inventory audits using mobile as a barcode scanner to ensure that assets are present where they need to be. Thereafter, develop a physical inventory report for more clear insight.

3. Check-In / Check-Out

Scan barcodes using smartphone or barcode scanner to assign assets to emergency medical technicians, and vehicles. Also, note their check-in and check-out time and details to further match the information for sanitization, refilling, or maintenance, etc.

4. Document Tracking

Makes organization more efficient by assigning barcodes to important documents such as financial records, medical supply reports, or physical inventory documents for auditing process purposes.

Conclusion

Emergency Medical Service agencies need a solution that is quick and easy to use due to the nature of their job and it is important during this critical time of crisis or any disaster. A tracking solution that combines ease of use, speed, and accuracy is a perfect solution for EMS facilities. To sum up, the following are the major points of consideration to implement asset tracking software:

Effective Inventory Control During Emergency

There are three variables to control inventory:

• Inventory replenishment of warehouse or central inventory.
• Documented usage of inventory.
• Inventory replenishment of in-station or in-ambulance inventory.

Know About Life Saving Devices

Supplies like test kits, protective gear, respiratory equipment, respirator masks, and other valuable equipment used by EMS agencies are significant financial investments. With severe shortages scenarios that EMS departments are facing, every item counts. Keeping track of this crucial equipment through running operations in this pandemic is a critical risk management process to consider.

Also Read: How Asset Tracking System is helpful in Shipping Container Tracking?

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is Emergency Medical Service?‍

To provide outpatient and hospital treatment in casually clearing hospitals to fully equipped base hospitals. To treat certain types of injuries and diseases with fully equipped and staffed special hospitals.

2. What is the purpose of Emergency Medical Services?‍

The main purpose of EMS to provide for immediate medical care to the people who most need it, without which, heart attacks and accidents would lead to many more fatalities. The EMS simply exists in order to give us all a better quality of life.

3. What are the levels of EMS?‍

The National EMS Scope of Practice Model defines and describes four levels of EMS licensure, where each level represents a unique role, set of skills, and knowledge base:
1. Emergency Medical Responder (EMR)
2. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
3. Advanced EMT (AEMT)
4. Paramedic