Software detects 911 call urgency

[The Straight Story]

Software detects 911 call urgency

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- A computer algorithm is able to predict a patient's risk of dying at the time of an emergency call, researchers in Japan said.

Kenji Ohshige and a team of researchers from the Yokohama City University School of Medicine in Japan assessed the new Yokohama computer-based triage emergency system from its inception Oct. 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, collecting information from more than 60,000 emergency calls.

For each call, triage information was entered into the computer system, which then categorized patients according to the severity of their condition. The researchers compared the computer-estimated threat of dying at the time of the emergency call with the actual patients' condition upon arrival at the hospital emergency department.

They found that the algorithm was effective in assessing the life risk of a patient with over 80 percent sensitivity.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2009/10/22/Software-detects-911-call-urgency/UPI-27241256187759/