What is the EMS Acuity Feature and how does it work?
EMS Acuity lets EMS users specify their patient’s acuity level so the hospital team can prepare appropriately for the patient’s condition upon arrival. EMS sets the acuity, and everyone on the patient channel can see it. Each EMS agency chooses the acuity list its crews use. To enable EMS Acuity for your agency, contact your Pulsara Admin.
Acuity Levels can be added to all patient types, except ESF6.
Acuity Administration
Pulsara offers the following acuity lists out of the box. Each list can be customized (see below).
- Low (Green), Emergent (Yellow), Critical (Red)
- Priority 3 (Green), Priority 2 (Yellow), Priority 1 (Red)
- Code 3 (Green), Code 2 (Yellow), Code 1 (Red)
- Code 1 (Green), Code 3 (Yellow)
- Non-Emergency (Green), Emergency (Red)
- Mild (Green), Moderate (Yellow), Acute (Red)
- Mild (Green), Moderate (Yellow), Severe (Red)
- Green, Yellow, Red
EMS agency admins can enable the feature choosing from a group of Acuity lists offered in the product. The following items can be modified in your acuity list:
- The items that are enabled in your list
- The label for each option in the list
- The order of items in the list
How to set EMS Acuity
Once your agency has an acuity list configured, open a new or active patient and find the EMS Acuity card directly below Patient Type. Tap the value that matches your patient’s condition.
- To change acuity, tap a different value.
- To clear acuity, tap the selected value again.
Every acuity list uses the same colors, based on the NEMSIS acuity categories: green for Low, yellow for Emergent, red for Critical, and black for Dead ( if your agency includes it).
Note: Values are shown from lowest to highest acuity unless your admin has chosen a different order.
Critical acuity reminders
Some patient types, such as Stroke, STEMI, and Cardiac Arrest, imply critical acuity. When you choose one of these patient types, and EMS Acuity is not set or set to anything other than Critical, Pulsara shows a warning that suggests the Critical value from your agency’s list.
If patient type is changed and the selected EMS Acuity value is likely a mismatch with the newly selected type, a similar warning is displayed.
The warning is only intended to flag a potential mistake however; the application allows selecting any EMS Acuity value for any patient type.
What facility users see
Facility users can see the EMS Acuity value that EMS selected, along with its color, but can’t change it.
On patient list screens, the acuity label is shown with its NEMSIS category.
If your facility creates inbound EMS patients in Pulsara, you can record acuity for those patients. Select an EMS agency that has an acuity list configured, and that agency’s values become available.
