Data show improvement across multiple metrics; opioid overdoses remain a public health concern

ESO, the leading data and software company serving emergency medical services (EMS), fire departments, hospitals, and state/national organizations, today announced the mid-year release and update of its 2021 ESO EMS Index. The Index tracks performance of EMS nationwide across key metrics: stroke assessment and documentation, ketamine administration with weight recorded, non-transport dispositions, transports without lights and siren, percent of patients with suspected overdose, as well as COVID-19 and influenza-like illness (ILI) impressions. There is one new metric in this version – bystander CPR. Data used for the mid-year update of the Index are from January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021.

“We continue to see steady improvement around stroke assessment and documentation,” said Dr. Brent Myers, Chief Medical Officer for ESO. “This is encouraging. We’re also seeing steady performance across the other metrics in the Index, this is especially important for ketamine administration. Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise in the overdose rate and COVID-19 and ILI impressions. COVID-19 certainly continues to play a factor, and likely will for some time in light of this most recent surge.”

Key Findings Include:

• In 80 percent of situations, a complete stroke assessment was documented for a primary impression of stroke. The data show improvement when it comes to documenting a stroke assessment after a primary impression of stroke is identified.

• By and large, EMS clinicians are recording patient weight when ketamine is administered. In 83 percent of cases, weight is recorded allowing for evaluation of appropriate dosing and associated effects.

• Overdose encounters are on the rise. In the 2019 ESO EMS Index, overdoses were 1.6 percent of all encounters. This year the number jumped to 2.8 percent of all encounters.

• Transport without lights and siren has room for improvement. In 83 percent of cases, personnel are transporting patients without lights and siren.

• Non-transport dispositions are remaining steady. EMS events resulting in non-transport are at 22 percent.

• Bystander CPR remains a key factor for cardiac arrest survival. In 46 percent of cardiac arrest encounters, CPR was initiated prior to EMS arrival.

The full Index can be downloaded here.

About the Index: Mid-Year Update

The dataset from the ESO Data Collaborative used for the ESO EMS Index is real-world, de-identified data, compiled and aggregated from more than 2,000 agencies across the United States that use ESO’s products and services and agreed to share their data for research purposes. This report is based on 4.6 million anonymized 911 encounters between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021.

About ESO

ESO (ESO Solutions, Inc.) is dedicated to improving community health and safety through the power of data. Since its founding in 2004, the company continues to pioneer innovative, user-friendly software to meet the changing needs of today’s EMS agencies, fire departments, hospitals, and state EMS offices. ESO currently serves thousands of customers throughout globally with a broad software portfolio, including the industry-leading ESO Electronic Health Record (EHR), the next generation ePCR; ESO Health Data Exchange (HDE), the first-of-its-kind healthcare interoperability platform; ESO Fire RMS, the modern fire Record Management System; ESO Patient Registry (trauma, burn and stroke registry software); and ESO State Repository. ESO is headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.eso.com.

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