Second, the decision to report a suspected case to APS
weighs heavily on EMTs, as they bear the moral burden
of “wrecking someone’s life” based upon “gut” instincts
that abuse may be occurring. EMTs also highlighted the
consequences associated with reports of suspected elder
abuse to APS. One EMT stated, “How much do you want
to invade their life, with getting the state involved, to
maybe tear everything apart?” EMTs were hesitant to
judge older adult’s living conditions as abusive or
neglectful given the consequences of reporting, but suggested
that training or a checklist to guide their reporting
decision would alleviate some of the emotional
burden associated with reporting to APS.
Third, EMTs reported that time restrictions prevent
them from reporting all cases of abuse that they encounter.
For instance, because EMTs are dispatched immediately
from one call to another, they have little time to
locate a phone number for APS and transmit all of the
details necessary to report a case. One EMT reported
that a single phone report to APS “…[has] taken me an
hour to even get someone on the line…I had that time to
actually sit. In the streets, you don’t have that time. So it
is really frustrating,” and this time commitment was corroborated
by EMTs in each focus group. As a result, a
situation “has to be pretty outstanding for me [an EMT]
to report it.” Although an electronic reporting option is
available, it is unreliable for EMTs, as they “usually have
to wait until after your shift [to contact APS], [be]cause
the internet on the truck is spotty and it disconnects … so
if I start a report and the network goes down, then everything
I’ve done is deleted.” In general, the current
methods available to report suspicions of elder abuse
and neglect to APS were repeatedly deemed as frustrating,
time consuming, and burdensome. APS caseworkers
also noted that telephone communication could be a
barrier to reporting for EMTs, particularly in light of
EMT’s time constraints. Because all calls to APS are
routed through a central office (not local APS regional
offices), systemic modifications to enhance communication
between APS and EMTs are necessary.
Fourth, at the end of a 12-h shift, EMTs reported difficulty
recalling sufficient information about a patient during
a call to APS (“It’s trying to remember enough, so
when I call four hours later when I get off shift and get
APS all the information they need”) and,
“Information is lost because in four hours, that’s four
new patients, four new houses, four new calls”
“The past few nights we get back to back to back
calls for the first 6-7 h of our shift, and then next
five hours we’re not doing much, but how are you
supposed to distinguish details between the first
and last call?”
Reingle Gonzalez et al. BMC Emergency Medicine (2016) 16:36 Page 5 of 8
As a result, “you mix up information on a patient
[from] another call,” and data relayed to APS may not be
accurate and result in an unfounded investigation. The
fast-paced nature of the mobile healthcare industry requires
user-friendly reporting protocols. When EMTs
were asked if an automated reporting program, such
as a checklist or screening tool would help them report
cases, the response was overwhelmingly positive:
“If [reporting cases of suspected elder abuse to APS]
were easier to do, I would report it every time I
suspected it.” Therefore, the data clearly suggest that
the volume of patients seen by EMTs over the course
of a single shift inhibits their ability contact APS and
provide detailed information to file a report in a
timely fashion. If new training or reporting programs
were developed that could enhance EMTs’ ability to
report suspected cases promptly and accurately, these
more complete reports could lead to more successful
APS investigations.
Finally, at the end of the focus groups, facilitators
prompted EMTs to discuss the utility of a brief checklist
or screening tool that could automatically generate and
transmit a report to APS. Participants suggested that this
type of instrument would increase their confidence in
reporting potential cases of elder abuse or neglect to
APS. EMTs noted that there is substantial “grey area,”
(or uncertainty about reporting, the final barrier) and
when they are fatigued after a long shift, subtle signals
that could represent abuse or neglect might be overlooked.
A checklist or screening tool would help ensure
that EMTs were attentive to the circumstances that
might warrant an APS report.
APS caseworkers sympathized with the barriers that
prevent EMTs from reporting cases. In both APS focus
groups, caseworkers noted that it is “time consuming to
submit a report either online or [via the hotline],” and
that “EMTs just don’t have time [to report].” Caseworkers
agreed that calls to their hotline may last
upwards of an hour, and that EMTs simply do not have
the time to report all cases given t