April 30, 2022
On Monday the 2nd May we will be revamping the Ambulance Victoria Offload Model of Care as a strategy to improve the impact of long Ambulance offload delays on patient care.
The AV offload Zone, formally known as the ‘Old EOU’ is a nine bed bay. The aim of the AV offload Zone is to initiate patient assessment, complete observations, provide clinical support and commence appropriate patient care and investigation whilst waiting for an admission to an appropriate areas such as Emergency Department/Short Stay Unit (SSU)/ Fast Track (FT)/ Rapid Assessment and Discharge (RADU) or discharge home. The primary aim of the AV Offload zone is to support the timely offload of ambulance resources at SHED. By increasing the percentage of patients off loaded to the care of a registered nurse (RN) within the AV offload zone within the targeted time of less than 40 minutes enables AV crews to respond to the community needs in a timely manner.
The AV Offload zone has a nursing ratio of 1:3. To provide support and oversight as well as to ensure clinical safety, an Intermediate or Senior nurse who is credentialed in Adult Life Support (ALS) should be allocated to the AV Offload Zone. This staff member will be supported, typically by either; West Metro Graduates/ RN’s or Graduate RNs. The Green Consultant and Green medical team are responsible for medical care of the patients that are allocated to the AV Offload Zone.
Prior to considering whether a patient is suitable for handover to the AV Offload Zone, the Department of Health ‘Fit to Sit’ guidance should first be applied to identify patients suitable for allocation to the waiting room.
Exclusion criteria for AV off load Zone & Adult Waiting Room
| EXCLUSION CRITERIA |
Vulnerable patients – dementia, agitation, BOC >1, high falls risk, severe pain |
Patients Suitable for the AV Offload Zone
| INCLUSION CRITERIA |
| · Adult patients triaged as Category 3, 4 or 5 |
| · Chest pain with NO pain or arrhythmias |
| · Haemodynamically stable |
| · Able to safely wait in a bed |
| · C-spine precautions cleared by doctor |
| · Requiring ongoing IV fluids, analgesia or antibiotics |
| · Deemed clinically safe by Triage Nurse |
https://ed.wh.org.au/wp-content/uploads/AV-Offload-Zone-QRG.docx
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