Real-Time Triage, Position, and Documentation (TriPoD) During Medical Response to Major Incidents: Protocol for an Action Research Study

Abstract

Background: There is a need to address the implementation of technological innovation into emergency medical services to facilitate and improve information exchange between prehospital emergency care providers, command centers, and hospitals during major incidents to enable better allocation of resources and minimize loss of life. At present, there is a lack of technology supporting real-time information sharing in managing major incidents to optimize the use of resources available.

Objective: The aim of this protocol is to develop, design, and evaluate information technology innovations for use in medical response to major incidents.

Methods: This study has a qualitative action research design. This research approach is suitable for developing and changing practice in health care settings since it is cyclical in nature and involves development, evaluation, redevelopment, and replanning. The qualitative data collection will include workshops, structured meetings, semistructured interviews, questionnaires, observations, and focus group interviews. This study assesses the use of a digital solution for real-time information sharing by involving 3 groups of indented users: prehospital emergency care personnel, hospital personnel, and designated duty officers with experience and specific knowledge in managing major incidents. This study will explore end users' experiences and needs, and a digital solution for prehospital and hospital settings will be developed in collaboration with technology producers.

Results: The trial implementation and evaluation phase for this study is from April 2024 to May 2026. Interviews and questionnaires with end users were conducted during the planning phase. We have performed observations in connection with 2 major exercises in April 2024 and November 2024. The outcome of this analysis will form the basis for the design and development of a new information technology system. We aim to complete the observations in training sessions and exercises (phase 3) by September 2025, followed by modification of the technology solutions tested (phase 4) before dissemination in a scientific journal.

Conclusions: This protocol includes several methods for data collection that will form the basis for the design and development process of a digital solution for real-time information sharing to support efficient management in major incidents based on the experiences and requirements of end users. The findings from this study will contribute to the limited research on users' perspectives and the development of digital solutions for real-time information during major incidents.

International registered report identifier (irrid): PRR1-10.2196/57819.

Keywords: action research; decision support technique; information technology; major incident; management; medical response.

Figure 1

The action research spiral.