Control room staff in Wales are employing a novel method for categorizing emergency calls, a system that has garnered international interest. This approach, which some staff have dubbed 'Tinder clinicians,' involves a rigorous triage process to determine the most appropriate response for each 999 call, aiming to optimize the use of finite ambulance resources.
Calls are segmented into priority levels, with 'purple' and 'red' reserved for the most critical emergencies, followed by 'orange' for conditions like heart attacks and strokes, and then 'yellow' and 'green' for lower-priority situations. The majority of calls, however, do not result in an ambulance being dispatched. Instead, they are routed for further assessment by a nurse or paramedic.
One clinical navigator explained the process metaphorically, comparing it to the dating app Tinder. A 'swipe left' signifies that a call requires further triage, while a 'swipe right' means an ambulance is dispatched. This system helps to filter calls, ensuring that ambulances are primarily sent to situations deemed life-threatening.
In a typical month, the control rooms in Wales handle approximately 50,000 calls. On an average day, only about 2.6% of these are classified as 'purple calls,' the most urgent category that warrants a blue-light response within a target timeframe of six to eight minutes. This stringent prioritization allows for the development of alternative solutions for individuals who may not require immediate hospital transport, thereby freeing up critical resources for those in genuine life-threatening emergencies.
Examples of calls that do not typically result in an ambulance dispatch include an elderly cancer patient found unconscious at home, a five-month-old baby covered in shower gel by a sibling, a woman in her 40s experiencing alcohol withdrawal, and an elderly man who had fallen at home with his frail wife unable to assist him. These cases, while serious, are managed through different pathways that do not involve immediate ambulance deployment.