Medical Priority Dispatch System

Medical Priority Dispatch System

The Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) is a medically approved, unified system used to dispatch appropriate aid to medical emergencies including systematized caller interrogation and pre-arrival instructions. Priority Dispatch Corporation is licensed to design and publish MPDS and its various products.

MPDS was developed by Dr. Jeff Clawson from 1976 to 1979. Dr. Clawson worked as an Emergency Medical Technician and dispatcher prior to medical school: he designed a set of standardized protocols to triage patients via the telephone and thus improve the emergency response system. Dr. Clawson states the main objective of MPDS is to "send the right thing to the right person in the right way at the right time." Cards were first alphabetized by chief complaint that included key questions to ask the caller, pre-arrival instructions, and dispatch priorities. After many revisions, these simple cards have evolved into MPDS.

MPDS today still starts with the dispatcher asking the caller key questions. These questions allow the dispatchers to categorize the call by chief complaint and set a determinant level ranging from A (Minor) to E (Immediately Life Threatening) relating to the severity of the patient's condition. Some systems also use the determinant O which may be a referral to another service or obvious death. Another sub-category code is used to further categorize the patient. For instance, a suspected cardiac or respiratory arrest where the patient is not breathing is given the MPDS code 9-E-1, whereas a superficial animal bite has the code 3-A-3. The MPDS codes allow emergency medical systems to determine the appropriate response mode (i.e. routine or "lights and sirens") and resources to be assigned to the event.