How FirstWatch is helping during COVID-19

For over 21 years FirstWatch has provided real-time, automated data visualizations & alerts for our customer partners across the US & Canada…everyday, as well as during H1N1, MERS, Ebola, and now COVID-19.

The proven combination of user-defined FirstWatch data filter criteria (Triggers), via real-time interfaces into Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD), ProQA for EMD, along with ePCR data mash-ups are designed to offer Dashboards, Reports and other data visualizations displayed on Maps, Charts and Graphs. Additionally, we recently also enabled automated FirstWatch data feeds into tools like MS PowerBI, which offers enhanced views that benefit of EMS, Fire, Law, Public Health, 9-1-1 and Emergency Management teams…all in real-time, automatically.

FirstWatch Trigger and Report views against COVID-19 criteria is now also enhanced via our new PowerBI (PBI) COVID-19 Dashboard. Our goal is to provide customers with easily understandable and ‘quick glances’ of COVID-19 criteria displayed as FirstWatch Triggers, Reports also via the PBI dashboard too! All of the FirstWatch data visualization tools are designed to Help the Helpers quickly & easily understand how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting their emergency service teams and citizens they serve.

The new COVID-19 Dashboard view enables users with the ability to filter data by date and location, as well as the impacts on various facilities, patient impressions recorded and locations of calls within a community. This is accomplished through several visual displays on two, easy to use and intuitive pages. All of the tables and graphs can be exported to an appropriate file format and the underlying data can be viewed by a single mouse click on an options selection in each presentation.

A – Time Slicer: The dashboard is equipped with filtering capabilities that allow each user to select a surveillance period. When filters are applied, all the data on the page (including the map data) are changed to reflect the specific time period selected.

B – Transport And Incident Summary: Summary of the number of incidents meeting the dispatch criteria for COVID-19 identification as well as the number of transports resulting from these requests for service.

C and D – Incidents By Day/incidents By Week: Provides a time series of incidents meeting the criteria for COVID-19 suspicion. Selecting an individual day or week will change the map view to indicate the call locations for that specific day as well as changing the Transport and Incident Summary to the totals for the time period selected. The Incidents by Week view is provided with a Cone of Uncertainty that provides a Smoothed Exponential view of projected trajectory and degree of variance from the mean of future calls.

E – Map: The map provides a geo-spatial representation of the calls for service that are selected either through the date slicer (A) or the individual days or weeks selected (C). The map scale is fully adjustable by utilize your mouse’ scroll bar. Hovering over it provides information on a specific call or information on a cluster of calls for service if applicable. Specific address information may optionally be provided in a hover function if appropriate authority is granted.

F – Destinations: Provides a quick glance view of what facilities have received what number of COVID-19 suspected cases. Again, a time slicer is provided to allow selection of any date or date range desired. Selection of any individual facility will change the other displays on the page to reflect the totals for the individual facility selected, thus providing a view into Chief Complaints/Problems, Response Areas, Demand by hour of day and day of week and Incidents by month for that specific facility.

G – Incidents By Month: Provides a running summary of COVID-19 suspected calls by month. Again, selection of any individual month will provide reporting from the other dimensions on this page for the month selected.

H – Response Areas: This provides a quick view and ability to sort data based upon the community or response area defined in the data.

I – Problems: The problems/chief complaints provided at call intake are summarized in a Pareto type format for easy identification of emerging trends in potential disease presentation. The top six problem types are displayed with the ability to scroll down through the entire list as needed.

J – Call Volume Day And Hour: Presents a standard ‘heat map’ type display indicated the hour of day and day of week COVID-19 identified cases are received. This can be used to assist in deployment decisions and overall system design parameters. The table also changes its display based upon the filter criteria selected on the page.