Thank you for #EOCtakeover week success

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to and supported our EOC takeover week which finished on Sunday.

Staff in the three rooms opened the doors literally and figuratively to the wider world in order that our Communications team could spotlight what goes on, what roles there are, and how we tackle the myriad calls we receive, including hoaxes.

The takeover week saw lots of interaction on social media using the #EOCtakeover and two press releases were issued, which were covered by the Eastern Daily Press, the East Anglian Daily Times and the Cambs Times. We also had interviews on BBC Radio in Norfolk and Norwich.

On Twitter:

• 121 Tweets were posted
• 263,737 impressions
• 300 retweets
• 887 likes
• four polls posted. 530 votes were cast in total.

You can still catch up with all the tweets from last week on our Twitter feed.

The takeover week came in a period of milestones and achievements for the EOCs which, with the work of colleagues on the road day in, day out and others from across the Trust, has enabled us to be the only UK ambulance service to be increasing its R1 performance.

Other highlights from the past quarter (Oct-Dec) include:

• implementation of Dispatch on Disposition (DoD) and Nature of Call (NoC) [ARP] – increasing early predicted rates of cardiac arrest to 75% allowing immediate deployment
• increasing Hear and Treat levels
• a new ECAT room in Bedford EOC
• new determinant codes and increased number of codes passed automatically for hear and treat
• changes to response priorities for ‘obvious’ and ‘expected’ deaths
• implementation of compressions-only CPR for 999 callers
• revised high-risk complications in childbirth
• availability of new pre arrival protocols/tools such as cardiac arrest in neonatal/new-born, guidance for epinephrine auto injector and chemical suicide.

Gary Morgan, Deputy Director for EOCs and Performance, said: “Whilst most of our colleagues in the three EOCs do not see physically see patients, they are doing everything possible to improve our responses to each patient, and in turn support the staff and volunteer colleagues who are on the road.

“I hope everyone had the opportunity to get behind EOC takeover week as it really gave a great insight for people who aren’t involved in the control rooms to get a sense of what life is like and the impact from the first 999 call to the patient getting a response, whether that’s face to face or via the telephone”.

“There is still a way to go to ensure things like the reduction of diverts/stand downs continues, that staff sickness absence is tackled effectively to support those affected, to further build  relationships with teams outside EOC so there are more opportunities for people to learn about work in other areas of the Trust. But I’m really proud of everyone for all their hard work over the last year, how far we’ve come, and I would like to thank everyone for their efforts.”

Published 7th February, 2017