Area of Study: Prehospital Medicine/Stroke/Disaster Medicine/ Literacy

Faculty member: Jane Brice, MD, MPH

Project Description: STAT 911 - a study examining the effect of a 911-telecommunicator algorithm for stroke. CARD - assessment of citizen personal preparedness for disaster. Stroke Registry and PreMIS Linkage - a study examining the validity of a data linkage between the North Carolina Stroke Registry and PreMIS, the state EMS patient care database. Barriers to care for Hispanic patients and the effect of health literacy on those barriers.

Project Title:  Linking EMS, Trauma, Healthcare, and Crash Data Systems

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This project, funded by the North Carolina Governor’s Highway Safety Program, will begin January 1, 2010 and will end December 31, 2010.  The purpose of this project is to establish a formal ongoing linkage of existing North Carolina Motor Vehicle Crash, EMS, Emergency Department, Trauma, Hospital, and Medical Examiners Data Sources.  Since each of these healthcare data systems are in use statewide, the resulting NC Outcomes Data System will allow, for the first time, the measurement of the incidence and outcomes associated with all North Carolina traffic related injury.  It will serve as a valuable tool in the ongoing development, evaluation, and improvement of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Program and Trauma System of Care. 

Project Title:  A Bridge to the North Carolina EMS Cardiac Arrest Care Toolkit Grant Program

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This project is funded by The Duke Endowment through a subcontract to the EMS Performance Improvement Center by the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation, Office of EMS.  This project will begin on January 1, 2010 and will end on June 30, 2010.  Funding will be used to provide six months of technical assistance and support by the EMS Performance Improvement Center to the EMS systems and agencies.  This support includes ensuring full access to all six EMS Performance Improvement Toolkits, assisting in the generation and use of the EMS Toolkits and their performance measures, as well as educating state and local EMS professionals in EMS performance improvement.

Project Title:  EMSPIC Hospital Preparedness Program

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This ongoing project is funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and by State funds through a subcontract to the EMS Performance Improvement Center by the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation, Office of EMS.  This project year began on August 9, 2009 and is scheduled to end on June 30, 2010.  This project provides ongoing support for the maintenance, enhancements, and technical support/assistance required for the North Carolina EMS Data System.  This includes the PreMedical Information System (PreMIS), the Credentialing Information System (CIS), and the State Medical Asset Resource Tracking Tool (SMARTT) web applications.  Additionally, this project provides funding for the ongoing Medical Direction to the Hospital Preparedness Program as well as supports the hardware, security, software and data structure needs associated with the North Carolina Trauma Registry.   

Project Title:  H1N1 Pandemic Influenza Healthcare Preparedness Improvements for North Carolina Hospitals and EMS System Education

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This ongoing project is funded by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) through a subcontract to the EMS Performance Improvement Center by the NC Dept. of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Service Regulation, Office of EMS.  This project began on November 1, 2009 and is scheduled to end on July 31, 2010.  This project will provide support to the North Carolina Office of EMS in two primary objectives.  The first is to assist the NCOEMS in the application, review, and award process for the establishment of 1.5 million in block grants for “Pandemic Influenza Healthcare Preparedness Improvements for States” to be awarded to North Carolina Hospitals.  Secondly, this contract will support the development and implementation of an online competency based educational program for EMS Systems regarding H1N1 education, protocols, and guidelines.  This course will include an exam and certification of completion.

Project Title:  National Assessment of EMS Systems

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD & Jane Brice, MD, MPH

Project Description:  This project is funded by the US Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).   It began September 21, 2009 and will end March 22, 2011.  The UNC Department of Emergency Medicine, EMS Performance Improvement Center will work in collaboration with the University of Utah, the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) and the Critical Illness & Trauma Foundation (CIT) to conduct a preliminary national assessment of state, local, tribal, and regional EMS and 9-1-1 systems, using existing data.  This includes; identifying and analyzing existing databases, developing an analysis plan to provide a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s EMS systems given the limitations of existing data, performing a gap analysis to identify the EMS assessment priorities for which relevant data does not currently exist and to provide a final report on the state of the Nation’s EMS systems, EMS emergency preparedness, and emergency communications/9-1-1 systems.

Project Title:  National EMS Information System (NEMSIS)

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This ongoing project is funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and subcontracted to the EMS Performance Improvement Center by the University of Utah.  This project year began on September 16, 2009 and is scheduled to end on September 15, 2010.  The focus during this current year is to complete many of the tasks associated with supporting the NHTSA dataset and the National EMS Database.  This includes; ongoing software compliance testing, software development technical assistance, project representation at state and national meetings, and NEMSIS report design.  Additionally, this subcontract will provide comprehensive support during the transition from the NHTSA 2.2.1 to the Version 3.0 dataset and XML standards.

Project Title:  NEMSIS EMS Performance Measures for STEMI, Stroke, and Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD & Jane Brice, MD, MPH

Project Description:  Funding for this project is provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) to the Department of Emergency Medicine, EMS Performance Improvement Center.  This project will begin December 1, 2009 and end September 30, 2010.  Using the National EMS Information System’s Version 3.0 dataset and definitions, this project will use an industry driven consensus process to identify, define, and develop a minimal set of EMS performance measures to better describe and evaluate the impact of EMS service delivery and patient care on the Systems of Care associated with STEMI, Stroke, and OHCA care.

Project Title:  EMS Stroke Care Performance Improvement Toolkit

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD & Jane Brice, MD, MPH

Project Description:  This project is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD).  This is a two year project which began on December 15, 2008 and is scheduled to end on September 30, 2010.  This project has four primary goals.  First, is to assure that the EMS Stroke Care Toolkit is in use by all 100 EMS Systems with an evaluation of user experiences.  Secondly, incorporate an existing EMS Stroke Recognition online educational program into the EMS Stroke Care Toolkit.  Additionally, through this project, the effectiveness of the EMS Stroke Care Toolkit will be evaluated based on pre and post Toolkit performance indicators over a 12 month period.  Lastly, this project will bring the development of an unrestricted version of the EMS Stroke Care Toolkit, based on the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) data exchange standard that can be used by EMS agencies anywhere in the nation.

Project Title:  Linking EMS and Hospital Stroke Registry Quality of Care Data Project

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD & Jane Brice, MD, MPH

Project Description:  This project is funded by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health.  It began on November 1, 2008 and is scheduled to end June 30, 2010.  The purpose of this project is to demonstrate the feasibility of linking the PreHospital Medical Information System (PreMIS) data with the NC Stroke Care Collaborative (NCSCC) data as a proof of concept.  Linking these data sets will create a new, unique data set that will reflect the continuity and quality of care from the time of stroke through discharge from the hospital.  The new data set will allow further evaluation of acute stroke care criteria that relate to patient outcomes (such as post stroke cerebral performance and survival). 

Project Title:  South Carolina EMS Data System

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This ongoing project is funded by The Duke Endowment through an applications and database agreement to the EMS Performance Improvement Center by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, Division of EMS & Trauma.  This project began January 1, 2008 and the current project year will end December 31, 2009.  This project supports the development, implementation and maintenance of the South Carolina EMS Data System, including the PreMIS and CIS web applications.  By January 2010, all South Carolina EMS agencies will have been enrolled and trained in the PreMIS system and will be actively submitting data.

Project Title:  West Virginia EMS Data System

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This ongoing project is funded by the West Virginia State Trauma and Emergency Care System, Bureau for Public Health through an applications and database use agreement.  This project began March 1, 2008 and the current project year will end February 28, 2010.  This project supports the development, implementation and maintenance of the West Virginia EMS Data System, including the PreMIS and CIS web applications.  By January 2010, all West Virginia EMS agencies will have been enrolled and trained in the PreMIS system and will be actively submitting data.

Project Title:  South Carolina State Medical Asset Resource Tracking Tool (SC SMARTT)

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This ongoing project is funded by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control, Office of Public Health Preparedness to the EMS Performance Improvement Center through an applications and database use agreement.  While this project has been ongoing since September 2007, the current year began on September 17, 2009 and is scheduled to end on June 30, 2010.  This project provides ongoing support for the maintenance, enhancements, and technical support/assistance required for the South Carolina SMARTT system.  This system is used to monitor hospital, EMS system and health center resources on a regular basis so that resources are quickly identified and made available for use in the event of a local, regional or statewide disaster.

Project Title:  Mississippi State Medical Asset Resource Tracking Tool (MS SMARTT)

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD

Project Description:  This ongoing project is funded by the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) to the EMS Performance Improvement Center through an applications and database use agreement.  While this project has been ongoing since August 2007, the current year began on August 9, 2009 and is scheduled to end on June 30, 2010.  This project provides ongoing support for the maintenance, enhancements, and technical support/assistance required for the Mississippi SMARTT system.  This system is used to monitor hospital, EMS system and health center resources on a regular basis so that resources are quickly identified and made available for use in the event of a local, regional or statewide disaster.

Project Title:  EMS State Medical Director Support

Faculty Member:  Greg Mears, MD