Dictum-Rescue Braunschweig
DICTUM rescue Braunschweig – Digital communication assistance tools for non-German speaking patients in paramedic care
To be able to communicate ones needs to health care professionals is a fundamental aspect for any medical treatment. In medical emergency situations, initial assessments and treatment decisions often have to be made very quickly. Especially in these situations, miscommunication can lead to dangerous situations for non-German-speaking patients if e.g. previous illnesses, drug intolerances or information about previous medical treatment cannot be assessed.
The Emergency Paramedics Act of Lower Saxony has extended the competencies of paramedics e.g. drug therapay, so that safe decision-making by paramedical staff in emergency situations has become even more important.
In the ‘DICTUM rescue’ project, a digital communication tool for the emergency medical service providers in the City of Brunswick is to be tested and evaluated within a clinical trial. The used app aims to enable communication with non-German speaking patients in medical emergency situations and thus to overcome existing language barriers.
After developing the communication tool in close cooperation with the actors in the field, it is implemented, tested and evaluated within a clinical study. The clinical study is designed as an open interventional, non-randomised study with two control groups. Recruitment will take place in two study phases: In the first phase, non-German-speaking patients (control group I) and German-speaking patients (control group II), neither of whom uses the communication tool, are recruited. In the second study phase, the communication tool can be used, and additionally intervention patients will be recruited. The primary outcome is the improvement of communication in situations with language barriers. Secondary outcome is the improvement of information collected from patients in emergency situations. Exploratory include follow-up requests for emergency physicians, times of the intervention, presence of lay interpreters, and user patterns.
You can find more information in our previously published study protocol.
Further development and testing for urban areas is financed by the Lower Saxony Ministry for Social Affairs, Health and Equal Opportunities with funds from the European Social Fund (ESF) in line with the directive on grants to promote measures within the framework of the “Social Innovation” programme.