Handover process
Two distinct types of clinical handover processes were iden-
tified during the observational period and were distin-
guished by location within the ED and patients’ level of
acuity. The first, more frequent handover occurred at the
ambulance ramp entrance for ATS 2–5 (non-critical)
patients.
Fig. 1 demonstrates the clinical handover process for the
non-critical patient. Patient information was given from one
paramedic to two or three different ED personnel, resulting
in repetition. The treating paramedic gave the patient’s
demographic information to the ED desk clerk. Following
this, the initial handover was given to the ED nurse team
leader who allocated a triage score and an appropriate ED
bed for the patient. A second handover was given to the
attending nurse and generally occurred as the patient wasbeing physically moved from the ambulance trolley to the
ED bed. Verbal handovers were brief, ranging from less than
1 min to 5 min. The same information was given to both the
nurse team leader and the attending bedside nurse. More
information was given from the paramedic to the nurse if
the nurse asked specific additional questions. Observation
of the handovers suggested that ED personnel were multi-
tasking and responding to numerous interruptions, although
this was dependent on the individual nurse and the busyness
of the ED at the time of clinical handover.
When the ED was particularly busy and ambulance pa-
tients on stretchers were queued inside the entrance door,
paramedics would give an additional handover to a medical
officer who would perform an initial rapid assessment of the
patient. The assessment enabled treatment such as intrave-
nous fluids and analgesia to be given and radiology/pathol-
ogy forms to be processed for the ambulance patients
waiting for an ED bed. Despite lengthy queues from the
ambulance to the ED bed, no patients were redirected to
another hospital.
The second, less frequent clinical handover occurred di-
rectly outside (and repeated within) a specially designated
resuscitation room where critically ill patients (ATS 1) were
transported to receive immediate treatment for their med-
ical condition or traumatic injuries.
The ED was notified of an incoming critical patient
through either a telephone call or radio alert from para-
medic to the ED senior medical officer or nurse team leader
prior to the ambulance arrival. This communication of infor-
mation instigated the preparation of the resuscitation room
and team. The actual handover of critical patients occurred
several times. A brief initial handover between an advanced
care or intensive care paramedic and a senior ED doctor was
given whilst removing the patient from the back of the
ambulance and transferring them into the resuscitation
room. A more detailed handover was then given to the team
in the resuscitation team after patient transfer onto the
bed. This handover was often required to be repeated Examples of repetition include: for clarification
by the ED staff, for the nurse in charge of the shift, or if a
specialist (e.g. orthopaedic surgeon) arrived into the room.
The paramedic often did not know who was responsible for
receiving the handover in the resuscitation room.
‘‘Paramedics don’t know who they should be talking to
and a lot of information is missed. We’re expected to
do too many things at once...physically transferring
patient and giving handover at the same time...’’ (Para-
medic, participant no. 36)
ED personnel were observed to be ‘doing’ tasks such as
connecting leads and intravenous lines, rather than listening
attentively. This resulted in repetitive questions being asked
of the paramedic by different members of the ED team.