ABSTRACT
The Santa Cruz county 9-1-1 emergency response system wastaxed severely with over 1.000 calls during the first seven hours following the Loma Prieta earthquake. It remained functional and responsive making 229 ambulance runs in the 72-hour period following the earthquake. Initially the demand was very high compared to normal, but decreased to slighty greater that normal levels during the second day. The 9-1-1 center adopted an abbreviated procedure and only attemped to determine if the call was a medical emergency and the location for dispatch. Based on this experience, a re vised 9-1-1 emergency medical services (EMS) procedure is recommended for disaster periods 1) the dispacher inquires whether the patient can be transported by other means 2) the caller is asked to explain the need for an ambulance in order to assign a priority to the request; its and 3) the caller is asked to cancel the call if there no longer is a need. This procedure is expected to improve disaster management of limited ambulance resources during and following a disaster, while maintaining rapid call processing (AU)
