MPDS

Medical Priority Dispatch System is a system of medical call prioritization used by various ambulance services. For a full description of MPDS, the Wikipedia entry is linked here. Here, medical patients requiring an ambulance are given the same prioritization codes. Under each patient's name is a code such as 7-D-2F, as found on a patient in a Basement Fire. This is the MPDS code for that patient. The code is broken in to four: the card, determinant level, determinant descriptor, and an optional suffix. In the example of 7-D-2F, the card is 7, which corresponds to Burns. The determinant level is D, which helps break up the card in to subsections based around priority. Determinant level A (or Alpha) is the lowest acuity, with E (or Echo) the highest acuity. The descriptor is 2, which corresponds to a patient in cardiac arrest. The suffix of F, in this case, corresponds to a fire currently present.

Card List

 * 1) Abdominal Pain/Problems
 * 2) Allergies (Reactions) / Envenomations (Stings, Bites)
 * 3) Animal Bites / Attacks
 * 4) Assault / Sexual Assault / Stun Gun
 * 5) Back Pain (Non-Traumatic / Non-Recent)
 * 6) Breathing Problems
 * 7) Burns (Scalds) / Explosions (blast)
 * 8) Carbon Monoxide / Inhalation / HAZMAT / CBRN
 * 9) Cardiac or Respiratory Arrest / Death
 * 10) Chest Pain / Chest Discomfort (Non-traumatic)
 * 11) Choking
 * 12) Convulsions / Seizures
 * 13) Diabetic Problems
 * 14) Drowning / Diving / SCUBA Accident
 * 15) Electrocution / Lightning
 * 16) Eye Problems / Injuries
 * 17) Falls
 * 18) Headache
 * 19) Heart Problems / AICD
 * 20) Heat / Cold Exposure
 * 21) Hemorrhage / Lacerations
 * 22) Inaccessible Incident / Entrapments
 * 23) Overdose / Poisoning (Ingestion)
 * 24) Pregnancy / Childbirth / Miscarriage
 * 25) Psychiatric / Abnormal Behavior / Suicide Attempt
 * 26) Sick Person
 * 27) Stab / Gunshot / Penetrating Trauma
 * 28) Stroke (CVA) / Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)
 * 29) Traffic / Transportation Incidents
 * 30) Traumatic Injuries
 * 31) Unconscious / Fainting(Near)
 * 32) Unknown Problem
 * 33) Inter-Facility Transfer / Palliative Care
 * 34) Automatic Crash Notification (ACN)
 * 35) HCP Referral (United Kingdom only)
 * 36) Pandemic / Epidemic / Outbreak