| Response | Description | Dispatch Level | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | Non-life Threatening | BLS | Non-Emergent |
| Bravo | Possibly Life-Threatening | BLS | Emergent |
| Charlie | Life-Threatening | ALS | Emergent |
| Delta | Serious Life Threat | ALS | Emergent |
| Echo | Life Status Questionable | Closest Available (Multiple Resources Sent) | Emergent |
| Omega | Public Assist Only | BLS | Emergent |
What are Emergency Medical Dispatch codes?
Emergency Medical Dispatch are protocols to help the emergency dispatcher determine the level of response based on a series of questions. This is a proprietary system developed by Priority Dispatch and requires a licensing fee to share. When someone calls 9-1-1 the dispatcher will go through these cards which show them which questions to ask to quickly determine the severity and nature of the call which then will be passed to the responding units. You can learn more about the cards at Priority Dispatch’s website. This is quite a complex system and has a lot of research to it so you can really appreciate it when you watch a dispatcher.
I am going to give a brief example based on the cards on the priority dispatch link. We will look at a dispatch for chest pain….After ruling out super-duper life threats (i.e. they needed an ambulance before calling) they basically triage the caller using the second card in the example.
Some questions the dispatcher will ask include: Are they completely alert? Are they breathing normally? Is their color changing? Do they have history of heart attack or angina? Have they taken any drugs/medicine in the last 12 hours?
So if someone is breathing normally and answers Yes to the first two and No to the last three questions and are under the age of 35 they would be given an EMD Code of 10A1. Deciphering this you have Protocol #10 (which is for chest pain) being used to determine the dispatch. ‘A’ indicates an alpha response – meaning no lights or sirens. Now if the caller was 35 or older and answered the questions the exact same way the call would be given an EMD code of 10C4. This would have a lights and sirens Charlie response…you will also note that other items in this dispatch group include Abnormal Breathing, history of heart attack and angina, and cocaine use. So, using medical research, they have determined that this call has some cause for concern and could potentially be emergent. The final digit, as you can see, further qualifies the illness.
If you wonder why I skipped the first card…well – that is the entry point. You will notice that there are a lot of E’s in the center. That means this person has a high likelyhood of serious and irreversible injury if immediate care is not warranted. This is what is called an Echo response. This commonly would be a non-breathing, no-pulse patient who needs CPR and AED *NOW*. They dispatch the nearest emergency units and give directions to try and provide care even faster than an ambulance or help can arrive.
This system is complex and, honestly, seeing the cards makes the system easier to understand. You can find a list of EMD codes below. Please note that you should not rely on this for any emergency response and rely only on the information and codes provided by your dispatcher.