1. Pre-Hospital Patient Care Reports
DOCUMENTATION
Pre-Hospital Patient Care Reports
Pre-hospital patient care report abbreviated as PPCR
Jack Boyce, EMT-P
Gates County Rescue & EMS
Pasquotank-Camden County EMS

2. PURPOSES Preserves basic patient information
Records changes in patient condition
Justifies treatment
Allows continuity of care
Satisfies regulatory requirements

3. PROVIDES
Protection for EMS personnel
Reflection of good patient care

4. Your Documentation Reflects Your PROFESSIONALISM
If your report is sloppy others may assume your care and treatment were sloppy

5. USES
Medical
Administrative
Research
Legal

6. Medical Uses
Determine patient condition before arrival to hospital (mechanism of injury/nature of illness)
Chronological account of patient status
Baseline for comparing assessment findings and detecting trends of improvement or deterioration

7. This is part of the patients medical record, a copy of your report MUST be left at the receiving facility

8. Administrative Uses
Gain information for quality improvement (detect a single providers weaknesses or EMS system weaknesses that could be improved upon)
System assessment (response times, call locations, use of lights and sirens)
Billing for reimbursement of services provided
Single provider weaknesses can range from how someone implements protocols, to how they perform procedures, to knowledge base information. EMS system weaknesses can range from when and how to implement incident command, to response times, to when and how to use lights and sirens, to number of units responding, to what should be paged out for certain incidents.

9. Research Uses
To determine effectiveness of medical devices, drugs, and invasive procedures
AED/Defibrillator, new drugs on market, whether or not certain therapy is helpful when implemented early in treatment

10. Legal Uses Permanent part of patients medical record
May be your SOLE source of information in court
May be your BEST and ONLY defense in court

11. ALWAYS write your documentation as if you knew you would have to refer to it someday in court

12. SHOULD BE
Accurate
Complete
Legible
Free of extraneous information

13. Should be written by the provider performing patient care ALS personnel should remember that the highest certified technician is in charge of not only their actions but the actions of other crew members too

14. Accuracy Document FACTS only
Do NOT speculate about patient or incident
Avoid reporting a diagnosis but instead note primary/secondary impressions(EMS does not diagnose, DOCTORS diagnose)
Record observations, assessments, treatments/interventions, effects of treatments/interventions, re-assessments
Speculation on patient being drunk or overdosed or crazy. Diagnostic impressions such as massive heart attack, hemorrhagic stroke, aortic aneurism, appendicitis, urinary tract infection, etc.

15. Describe the patients condition on arrival of scene, during care, before and after interventions, and upon arrival to hospital

16. Completeness Include all requested information
Failure to document implies failure to consider
If you look for something and it isn’t there, include its absence
If it ISN’T documented it DIDN’T happen or WASN’T done
Requested info such as Name, DOB, SSN, Address, etc. If they are complaining of abdominal pain and you don’t document that you assessed the abdomen then you failed to consider the patients complaint. If you look for a pulse and it is absent, document it.

17. Document exactly WHAT you did, WHEN you did it, and the EFFECTS of your interventions

18. Completeness
Document all findings of your assessment, even those that are normal (Pertinent Negatives)
Demonstrates thoroughness of examination
Helps rule out problems
EX: if a patient is having difficulty breathing and has clear lung sounds with no edema you can rule out congestive heart failure

19. Completeness
If you contact medical control for orders or advice DOCUMENT IT

20. Legibility
Clear, legible documentation makes it difficult for other people to tamper with or misinterpret
When you have forgotten about an event and need to reference your documentation, if it is not legible events may remain unclear or misinterpreted
Remember that you are not the only person reading your report, other medical staff review your information to assist in quality improvement, research, legal and medical issues
A sloppy report = sloppy care

21. Legibility
If you use abbreviations make sure there meanings are clear and standardized
EX: “CP” – chest pain, cardiac perfusion, cerebral palsy
EX: “CO” – cardiac output, carbon monoxide
EX: “BLS” – basic life support, burns/lacerations/swelling

22. Legibility When correcting mistakes, do it properly
Draw a single line through the error, write the correct information beside it and initial the change

23. Extraneous Information
AVOID labeling patients
If comments made by the patient need to be included in your documentation preface them with “Per the patient…” or “Patient stated…”
AVOID humor, the public and the courts DO NOT regard EMS as a funny business
Avoid labeling the patient as a crack addict or an alcoholic, it may just be a bad day for them.

24. LIBEL – writing false or malicious words intended to damage a persons character
You can be charged with this in court

25. NARRATIVE SECTION
From a patient care and legal point of view this is the MOST IMPORTANT part of the run report.

26. NARRATIVE SECTION
Your narrative should paint a picture of the scene, events leading up to the call, what you found in your assessment, care provided, & how transferred to the hospital

27. Methods of Documentation
CHART
SOAP
CHRONOLOGICAL

28. CHART C = chief complaint H = history A = assessment R = treatment
T = transport

29. CHART C = chief complaint
Chief complaint is what the patient is complaining of exactly as the patient states
EX: C – pt states my chest hurts

30. History of present illness
CHART
H = history
Under history you should include:
History of present illness
Past history
Current health status

31. CHART A = assessment Under assessment you should include: Vital signs
General impression
Physical exam
Diagnostic tests

32. CHART R = treatment Under treatment you should include:
Standing orders (Protocols)
Physician orders (Medical Direction)
(All treatments and interventions)

33. Effects of interventions
CHART
T = transport
Under transport you should include:
Effects of interventions
Mode of transport
Ongoing assessments

34. SOAP
S = subjective
O = objective
A = assessment
P = plan

35. History of present illness
SOAP
S = subjective
Under subjective you should include:
Chief complaint
History of present illness
Past history
Current health status
Family history

36. SOAP O = objective Under objective you should include: Vital signs
General impression
Physical Exam
Diagnostic tests

37. What you believe your patients problem is
SOAP
A = assessment
Under assessment you should include:
Field diagnosis
What you believe your patients problem is

38. SOAP P = plan Under plan you should include:
Standing orders (Protocols)
Physician orders (Medical Direction)
Effects of interventions
Mode of transport
Ongoing assessment

39. CHRONOLOGICAL
Start documenting from the time you were dispatched, hitting high points and key events during call to include scene findings, patient assessment findings, interventions and outcomes. Narrative ends when you reach the point that the call is cleared.
Can be used in conjunction with actual event times or without by simply keeping events in order from beginning to end.
Ex: 1200 – arrived scene to find patient lying on ground responsive to painful stimuli, c-spine taken
1201 – airway assessed, patent and maintained by patient, patient breathing and has a pulse, rapid blood sweep done finding no major life threatening bleeds, pt was backboarded, c- collar applied, CID in place, pt placed on 15 LPM O2 NRB
1215 – initial set of vitals taken, etc…

40. Patient Refusals
Patients retain the RIGHT to REFUSE treatment or transport IF they are COMPETENT to make that decision

41. Reliable Patients
CALM
COOPERATIVE
SOBER
ALERT
WITHOUT OTHER INJURIES

42. Unreliable Patients MAY Have:
Head/Brain injuries
Altered Level of Consciousness
Intoxication
Other distracting injuries

43. AMA = AGAINST Medical Advice Patient refuses care even though you feel they need it

44. Patient Refusals Documentation checklist: Thorough patient assessment
Competency of patient
Your recommendations for the need of care and transport
Explanation of possible consequences INCLUDING DEATH
Patients understanding of explanations

45. If there are any doubts in your mind about letting a patient sign a refusal CONTACT MEDICAL DIRECTION FOR ADVICE

46. Things to Include
Important observations – suicide notes, weapons, hostile family or bystanders
Patients refusal to have an area of their body assessed or difficulty to adequately assess an area
Devices used – backboards, scoop stretchers, splints, stair-chair, etc.

47. MVC’S Type of collision Degree of damage Location of patient
Use of restraint or safety devices

48. FALLS How far did the patient fall?
What type of surface did the patient fall on?
What caused the patient to fall?

49. HEAD INJURIES Level of consciousness Pupillary response
Discharge from nose or ears
Battle signs
Raccoon eyes
Cervical pain, tenderness, deformity
Paralysis
Altered motor function
Altered sensory function

50. CHEST TRAUMA Position of trachea Lung sounds JVD
Paradoxical chest movement or flail chest
Bruising
Crepitus or pain with palpation

51. Extremity Trauma Color and Temp. Pulse, movement, sensation (PMS)
Any DCAPBTLS

52. Knife Wounds
Length and type of blade
Approx size of wound made

53. Gunshots (GSW) Type of gun Caliber of gun, if known
Distance victim from shooter
Entry and exit wounds

54. Patient Restraint
Be VERY specific of why you restrained the patient: behavior that you felt constituted a threat to patient or anyone else’s safety
Who restrained the patient
What kind of restraints were used
New injuries patient complains of during and after restraint
Areas of body restrained

55. Paperless
Many services throughout the country have started using electronic run reporting methods.
The state of North Carolina requires all EMS agencies to report data to the state PreMis system.
Though resistance is initially high, people quickly become dependent on the latest in patient care reporting technology.

56. Summary
Complete, accurate, legible documentation is an important key to
– Providing continuity of patient care and
recording the event
– Protection from litigation
– Credibility as health care professionals
– Financial reimbursement

57. ANY QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS?

58. Quick Quiz What are the 4 ways documentation is used in EMS?
Since your PCR is part of the patient’s medical record, a copy should be left where?
Always write your documentation as if you knew you would have to refer to it someday in _______?
______ is writing false or malicious words intended to damage a persons character?
Normal assessment findings are called _____ _____?
From a patient care and legal point of view this is the most important part of the run report?
Patients retain the right to refuse treatment or transport if they are ______ to make that decision?
Of the 3 narrative methods listed, which one do you prefer?

59. Narrative Evaluation
You respond to a 55 year old male complaining of chest pain
Make up a history for this patient, an assessment, and interventions/treatments
Create a narrative to document this call

60. Continuing Education Credit
Complete the 8 quiz questions and a practice narrative after reviewing this PowerPoint.
Include the quiz answers & narrative in a document and to your instructor at
You will receive 3 hours of con-ed credit after successful completion.