Chapter 4 - Communication and Documentation Flashcards
Base station
Any radio hardware containing a transmitter and receiver that is located in a fixed place.
Cellular telephone
A low-power portable radio that communicates through an interconnected series of repeater station called “cells.”
Channel
And assigned frequency or frequencies that are used to carry voice and/or data communications.
Closed-ended questions
Questions that can be answered and short or single word responses.
Communication
The transmission of information to another person – verbally or through body language.
Cultural imposition
When one person imposes his or her beliefs, values, and practices on another because he or she believes his her ideals are superior.
Dedicated line
A special telephone line that is used for specific point-to-point communications; also known as a hotline.
Documentation
The recorded portion of the EMT’s patient interaction, either written or electronic. This becomes part of the patients permanent medical record.
Duplex
The ability to transmit and receive simultaneously.
Ethnocentrism
When a person considers his or her own cultural values as more important when interacting with people of a different culture.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
The federal agency that has jurisdiction over interstate and international telephone and telegraph services and satellite communications, all of which may involve EMS activity.
Interoperable communication system
A communication system that uses voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) technology to allow multiple agencies to communicate and transmit data.
MED channels
VHF and UHF channels that the Federal Communications Commission has designated exclusively for EMS use.
Mobile data terminal (MDT)
A small computer terminal inside the ambulance that directly receives data from the dispatch center.
Multiplex
The ability to transmit audio and data signals through the use of more than one communications channel.
Noise
Anything that dampens or obscures the true meaning of a message.
Open-ended questions
Questions for which the patient must provide detail to give an answer.
Paging
The use of a radio signal and a voice or digital message that is transmitted to pagers (“beepers”) or desktop monitor radios.
Patient care report (PCR)
The legal document used to record all patient care activities. This report has direct patient care functions but also administrative and quality control functions. PCRs are known as prehospital care reports.
Rapport
A trusting relationship that you build with your patient.
Repeater
A special base station radio that receives messages and signals on one frequency and then automatically retransmits them on a second frequency.
Scanner
A radio receiver that searches or “scans” across several frequencies until the message is completed; the process is then repeated.
Simplex
Single frequency radio; transmissions can occur in either direction but not simultaneously in both; when one party transmits, the other can only receive, and the party that is transmitting is unable to receive.
Standing orders
Written documents, signed by the EMS system’s medical director, that outline specific directions, permissions, and sometimes prohibitions regarding patient care; also called protocols.
Telemetry
A process in which electronic signals are converted into coded, audible signal; these signals can then be transmitted by radio or telephone to a receiver with a decoder at the hospital.
Therapeutic communication
Verbal and nonverbal communication techniques that encourage patients to express their feelings and to achieve a positive relationship.
Trunking
Telecommunication systems that allow a computer to maximize utilization of a group of frequencies.
UHF (ultra-high frequency)
Radio frequencies between 300 and 3000 MHz.
VHF (very high frequency)
Radio frequencies between 30 and 300 MHz; the VHF spectrum is further divided into “high” and “low” bands.
