In a step that the city of Spokane believes will make Spokane safer, the Spokane Fire Department has switched a digital patient records system.

The Patient Care Reporting (ePCR) system, it says, allows for electronic collection of patient information as a replacement to the traditional paper report that the department has used routinely since 1884. The implementation of the new system last month is the culmination of a year-long project that enables the department’s firefighters and paramedics to provide better medical care to citizens and visitors, it says.

“This tool gives the City’s Firefighters and Paramedics the ability to better care for citizens at a time when they are most needed,” said Spokane Mayor David Condon in a press release announcing the change.

The Spokane Fire Department says it responded to more than 33,000 incidents last year. More than 86 percent of those responses had emergency medical service components, which translated into more than 20,000 patient care reports.

They city says digital patient records significantly improve emergency medical services by:

•Equipping firefighters and paramedics with portable tablets to collect real-time patient and incident information.

•Ensuring compliance with all state and federal regulations requirements for protecting the privacy of patient’s medical records, which are maintained and stored in a secure database.

•Quickly and accurately generating a patient’s report in a uniform and comprehensive manner, resulting in better documentation.

•Complying with state and Center for Disease Control (CDC) repositories used for the collection and analysis of incident-level patient care records used to improve emergency care personnel practices.

The city says ePCR implementation is one of many steps it’s using to develop a comprehensive approach to integrated medical care with the local hospital systems, public health organizations, and the city’s ambulance vendor. It says the fire department’s emergency medical services division worked through an exhaustive process to research, test, and select an affordable and flexible ePCR platform.

The department also is leveraging the ePCR System’s capabilities to provide detailed analysis of incidents, procedures, status of report preparation, monitoring, and corrective-action requirements, as well as customizable reports to meet the public’s need for information. The technology also allows real-time information to be sent to key personnel.

“The department will be able to provide rapid, appropriate and timely response based upon current conditions in the field,” said Brian Schaeffer, assistant fire chief, in the press release.

The $30,000 cost of the technology, training, and infrastructure for the system is being funded by the City’s EMS levy. The system has been integrated with other city systems such as its computer aided dispatch, records management system, LifePack monitor/defibrillators, and the state Department of Licensing’s bar codes on state identification and driver’s licenses.