Critical medical history in seconds during 911 calls

About

Irvington Volunteer Ambulance Corps (IVAC) is a nonprofit ambulance service providing emergency medical care to the village of Irvington, New York.

Lucas Isola, an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with over a decade of experience, serves as the Technology Officer at IVAC. In addition to providing first response patient care, Lucas spearheads the adoption of tools that enhance the agency's operational capabilities.

The problem

In Emergency Medical Services (EMS), every second counts. Miscommunication can lead to delayed treatment or missed critical information. At IVAC, language barriers are an intermittent but significant challenge, with Spanish and French being the most frequently encountered languages.

Previously, the team relied on:

• Bilingual volunteers: While helpful, they were not always available on every shift.
• Online translators: These were used occasionally but had "limited success" and lacked the medical precision needed for triage.

Irvington needed a solution that was reliable, available offline, and capable of capturing complex medical histories without the delays associated with traditional translation methods.

How they used the app

Lucas first witnessed the effectiveness of Care to Translate at a neighboring EMS agency and decided to implement it at IVAC.

The app is now used primarily during 911 emergencies to assess patients and gather medical history when language barriers arise.

1. ‍Rapid symptom assessment. Responders use the app’s audio function to ask patients about pain levels, symptoms, and medical history. The clear, pre-recorded native audio helps calm patients and ensures they understand the questions immediately.‍
2. Custom lists for EMS workflows. To make the process even faster, IVAC utilizes the custom lists feature. This allows the crew to curate a specific set of triage questions relevant to their most common emergency scenarios, ensuring they don't have to search for phrases in the heat of the moment.

The result

1. ‍Life-saving clarity in pediatric emergencies. The tool has proven indispensable in high-stress situations. Lucas recounts a specific 911 call involving a French-speaking mother and her sick one-year-old child:
   “She didn't speak any English at all... The app allowed me to get the history of the patient's illness, symptoms, allergies, and past medical history. I probably would not have been able to do that without the app.”‍
2. Operational confidence. The uncertainty of not knowing if the crew on duty speaks the patient's language has been eliminated. IVAC now has a safety net that works 24/7.
   “Having the power of Care to Translate gives us the comfort to be able to communicate with all our patients regardless of any language barrier we may encounter.”‍
3. From "limited success" to accurate data. By moving away from generic online translators to a medically specialized tool, IVAC has improved the accuracy of the data they collect. They can now confidently identify allergies and medical conditions that generic apps often mistranslate or miss entirely.

So in general, what is the main value for IVAC? The ability to seamlessly gather information from patients where a language barrier might be present, ensuring no critical medical detail is missed.

Want to know more?

Are you working in EMS or first response? Get in touch to see how Care to Translate can help your crew gather accurate medical history in seconds.