Quality Control & Process Improvement Flashcards

A QC program finds that dispatcher errors spike on the overnight shift every Monday. The MOST likely root cause to investigate is:

Answer: Fatigue from weekend scheduling or reduced supervisor oversight

Overnight Monday shifts often follow weekend disruptions to sleep schedules, making fatigue and supervision gaps the most plausible root causes.

Which of the following best describes 'benchmarking' in the context of a dispatch QC program?

Answer: Comparing your center's performance metrics against peer agencies or industry standards

Benchmarking compares your center's metrics to external reference points to identify performance gaps and best practices.

After a fatal incident, a dispatch center conducts a thorough review of all decisions made during the event. This process is BEST described as:

Answer: Critical incident review / after-action review

A critical incident or after-action review systematically examines all decisions and actions during a significant event to identify lessons learned.

A dispatcher receives a perfect score on all standard elements but failed to obtain the caller's location at the start of the call. Under most QC rubrics, the overall score would be:

Answer: Unsatisfactory, because location is typically a critical element

Obtaining location is a critical life-safety element; failure to secure it renders the entire call unsatisfactory regardless of other scores.

Which measurement best indicates whether a quality improvement initiative has produced lasting change rather than a temporary effect?

Answer: Sustained performance improvement across multiple measurement periods

Sustained improvement across multiple periods demonstrates that the change is embedded in practice rather than a short-term reaction to intervention.

A dispatcher fails a QC review because they provided medical pre-arrival instructions for cardiac arrest but did not start CPR instructions before the ambulance was dispatched. This is an example of:

Answer: Protocol deviation in sequencing

Beginning CPR instructions before or concurrent with dispatch is a sequence requirement in EMD protocols; performing them out of order is a protocol deviation.

In quality improvement, a 'fishbone diagram' (Ishikawa diagram) is PRIMARILY used to:

Answer: Identify and organize potential causes of a problem by category

A fishbone diagram visualizes potential root causes of a problem organized into categories such as people, process, equipment, and environment.