Call Prioritization and Dispatch Precision
Call Prioritization and Dispatch Precision
This domain tests whether you can assign the right determinant and send the right resource. Prioritization is not a guess: it is the output of the protocol's Key Questions, translated into a determinant code and a local response configuration.
Determinant levels
- ECHO - immediate life threat, such as cardiac arrest requiring CPR; highest priority.
- DELTA - life-threatening but not immediately terminal, such as severe respiratory distress.
- CHARLIE - urgent and potentially serious; often ALS.
- BRAVO - less urgent; typically BLS.
- ALPHA - non-urgent; BLS or referral.
- OMEGA - no emergency response; advice or referral.
A determinant code combines the protocol number, the level letter, and a suffix (for example, 6-D-2). The letter is the priority; the suffix identifies the specific complaint pattern.
Dispatch precision
- The protocol sets the determinant; the agency's medical director sets the response mode and resource type.
- Do not upgrade or downgrade without new information; document the change.
- Match the resource to the determinant: ALS for Delta and Charlie, BLS for Bravo and Alpha, and the closest appropriate unit.
Worked example
A caller says, "I think my mother is having a stroke." You open Protocol 28, not a "stroke" code. KQs show she is awake, breathing normally, and has facial droop and slurred speech that began 20 minutes ago. The call codes at a high priority (Charlie or Delta, depending on the answers) and goes to ALS. The word "stroke" did not set the priority; the KQ answers did.
Traps that cost marks
- Coding ECHO for every chest pain call.
- Letting the caller's diagnosis override the protocol.
- Sending ALS to every Alpha "just in case," which strips resources from true Delta calls.
- Changing a determinant without a documented reason.