Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest
© The Author(s) 2018. This article examines emergency ambulance calls made by lay callers for patients found to be in cardiac arrest when the paramedics arrived. Using conversation analysis, we explored the trajectories of calls in which the caller, before being asked by the call-taker, said why the...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
2018
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1076949 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71992 |
| _version_ | 1848762630204817408 |
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| author | Riou, Marine Ball, Stephen O'Halloran, Kay Whiteside, A. Williams, Teresa Finn, Judith |
| author_facet | Riou, Marine Ball, Stephen O'Halloran, Kay Whiteside, A. Williams, Teresa Finn, Judith |
| author_sort | Riou, Marine |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © The Author(s) 2018. This article examines emergency ambulance calls made by lay callers for patients found to be in cardiac arrest when the paramedics arrived. Using conversation analysis, we explored the trajectories of calls in which the caller, before being asked by the call-taker, said why they were calling, that is, calls in which callers pre-empted a reason-for-the-call. Caller pre-emption can be disruptive when call-takers first need to obtain an address and telephone number. Pre-emptions have further implications when call-takers reach the stage when they are required to deliver the scripted turn ‘tell me exactly what happened’. When there has been a pre-emption earlier on, callers tend to treat the scripted turn as a request for more information and may not repeat their reason-for-the-call. This can occasion delays and important information can be lost. We identified an effective alternative strategy used by some call-takers, pre-emption repeat, which callers treat as a request for confirmation. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:50:37Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-71992 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T10:50:37Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-719922023-04-12T07:28:17Z Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest Riou, Marine Ball, Stephen O'Halloran, Kay Whiteside, A. Williams, Teresa Finn, Judith © The Author(s) 2018. This article examines emergency ambulance calls made by lay callers for patients found to be in cardiac arrest when the paramedics arrived. Using conversation analysis, we explored the trajectories of calls in which the caller, before being asked by the call-taker, said why they were calling, that is, calls in which callers pre-empted a reason-for-the-call. Caller pre-emption can be disruptive when call-takers first need to obtain an address and telephone number. Pre-emptions have further implications when call-takers reach the stage when they are required to deliver the scripted turn ‘tell me exactly what happened’. When there has been a pre-emption earlier on, callers tend to treat the scripted turn as a request for more information and may not repeat their reason-for-the-call. This can occasion delays and important information can be lost. We identified an effective alternative strategy used by some call-takers, pre-emption repeat, which callers treat as a request for confirmation. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71992 10.1177/1461445618754435 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1076949 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1029983 SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Riou, Marine Ball, Stephen O'Halloran, Kay Whiteside, A. Williams, Teresa Finn, Judith Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest |
| title | Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest |
| title_full | Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest |
| title_fullStr | Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest |
| title_short | Hijacking the dispatch protocol: When callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest |
| title_sort | hijacking the dispatch protocol: when callers pre-empt their reason-for-the-call in emergency calls about cardiac arrest |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1076949 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1076949 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71992 |