From using your cell phone to assist in proving quality CPR to locating the nearest AED or securely recording patient care information from your phone, mobile apps are changing the way EMS providers operate in the field. We’ve rounded up some of the most useful EMS apps based on reviews to help providers stay up to speed on the latest tools out there.

PocketCPR — Because Quality CPR Matters

PocketCPR for iPhone ™ provides real-time feedback and instructions on CPR that empowers anyone to learn and practice CPR, so that they can be ready when seconds count! The technology is the same as that used in PocketCPR, an FDA-cleared device, for actual rescue from sudden cardiac arrest.

Pocket CPR for iPhone is a must-have app for anyone who wants to learn how to perform CPR with accuracy. The PocketCPR can be used in CPR training programs and for individual practice at home or at work. It’s a great tool for families to learn CPR in order to be prepared if a loved one needs their help.

PocketCPR for iPhone:

• Actively uses the accelerometer hardware in the iPhone for real-time coaching and actual feedback on CPR while you are learning and practicing.
• Measures the actual depth and rate of your compressions, and lets you know if you need to push faster or slower, and whether you should push harder or softer. The patented algorithm also measures the recoil or release of each compression to help ensure full decompression during CPR. A Perfusion Performance Indicator (PPI) graphical display "fills" as compression quality is optimal and remains optimal, providing the user an indication that all the elements of excellent, high-quality compressions have been achieved.

Other CPR prompting devices can provide instructions on CPR or encourage you on the steps and pace of CPR, but only PocketCPR for iPhone can:

• Give instructions
• Prompt on the steps for proper CPR
• And give you real-time feedback on the chest compressions you deliver.

PocketCPR for iPhone will remind you to Call for Help, to provide ventilations according to guidelines (optional), and to perform CPR at the correct rate and depth. The device algorithms are in complete compliance with American Heart Association (AHA) and International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) guidelines.

Break the Language Barrier! Medical Spanish: Healthcare Phrasebook with Audio

Written by physicians, and designed by an iPhone and Mac software engineer, this eloquent and thorough phrasebook is like having a personal interpreter on call 24/7 in your pocket for a price less than a burrito. The goal of this app isn’t only to assist you in obtaining a full SOAP note with "yes or no" questions, but to help you become more independent and confident using your Spanish.

You will feel great as well knowing profits from your purchase are reinvested into local free health clinics and to medical relief efforts in Haiti. Ensuring nothing but the highest quality translations, professional interpreters have triple reviewed the content for accuracy and fluency, and the audio was recorded in a Mac studio. 

ZOLL ePCR App

Document patient care quickly and easily with ZOLL’s ePCR app. Designed specifically for first responders, ePCR helps you efficiently capture the most critical patient information – at the scene or after you’ve dropped them off. No more writing vitals or times on a glove or arm – just enter them into ePCR with a couple of taps. The app runs on iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini and iPod touch, so it’s easy to record patient information from anywhere.

 Features include: 

• Collect critical patient data including times, vitals, interventions and signatures
• Tailor the app to meet your specific needs using ZOLL Online
• Send PCRs to your RescueNet ePCR system
• Import data from ZOLL X Series devices to document patient care even faster
• Scan bar codes on driver’s licenses, health insurance cards and medications to ensure accurate information
• Use reverse geo-coding and geo-fencing to quickly enter addresses and timestamps
• Attach images, voice recordings and more to your PCRs
• Automatically generate your narratives rather than typing them in by hand
• Copy addresses so you don’t have to type in the same address multiple times
• Print or email PCRs

PulsePoint – Help is on the Way!

PulsePoint empowers individuals, within covered communities, with the ability to provide life-saving assistance to victims of cardiac arrest. Application users who have indicated they are trained in CPR are notified if someone nearby is having a cardiac emergency and may require CPR. If the medical emergency is in a public place, the application uses sophisticated location-based services to alert trained citizens in the immediate vicinity of the need for CPR. The application also directs these citizen rescuers to the exact location of the closest public access Automated External Defibrillator (AED).

The PulsePoint app is a virtual window into these 911 communication centers and provides real-time access to emergency activity as it is occurring. Users can view incidents — including the current response status of dispatched units — and instantly pinpoint the location on an interactive map. Curious as to where that fire engine or ambulance that just passed is headed? Is there an accident up ahead causing this traffic tie-up? Just tap the application to quickly find the incident location or plan an alternate route.

Additionally, users can choose to receive incident notifications when they are dispatched and listen in on live emergency radio traffic via this modern version of the traditional fire scanner. A photo gallery of significant events along with other agency images and information can also be easily accessed.

Resuscitation – Knowledge is Power!

Resuscitation is a virtual patient simulator that makes learning medicine addictive. Resuscitation gives you a case presentation of a patient who is ill, and you play the role of the health care provider. You are in control and can take a history, perform a physical exam, develop a differential diagnosis and administer therapy to treat the patient’s underlying problem. You can place the patient on a monitor, start IVs, perform procedures, administer medications, obtain radiology studies, EKGs and a LOT more. 

Resuscitation is a technical medical simulator and is designed mainly for health students and professionals who are interested in learning patient care. It’s used by medical schools and residencies across the Unites States and has won multiple innovation awards. Resuscitation has been played more than two million times by tens of thousands of engaged learners.

It may be too advanced for you if you have no medical or clinical experience. There are free cases; if you enjoy the free cases, there are many additional cases that you can purchase.

Topics include emergency medicine, EMS/Paramedic, emergency neurology, gynecology clinic, labor and delivery and pediatrics for UK and Europe users. Your support is appreciated and will allow us to continue making fun and educational cases.

ECG – Keep Those Electrocardiography Skills Sharp!

More than one million users are using ECG Cases to learn and sharpen electrocardiography knowledge and skills. They are medical students and teachers, primary healthcare providers, physicians, practitioners, and nurses.

Medical App Editor's Review:
Here is a beautiful app with rich collection of real 12-lead ECG cases you can use to develop your interpretation skills. Select a case and you can choose either Play mode, which shows you the ECG telemetry as you'd see it on a monitor in real time, with beeps for heartbeats, or Read mode, which gives you the printed ECG tracing to interpret. You can choose cases by category or search for them by name. You can also bookmark cases and return to them later.

For students and practitioners who wish to strengthen their ECG-reading capabilities, this app would seem justified, because ECG Cases gives you an effective way to immerse yourself in a wide range of ECG patterns and interact with them as if these were your own patients.

EMS Logger

This single-purpose application was written for EMTs and Paramedics. It allows you to record critical events and times with a single touch so you can concentrate on patient care rather than fumbling for a pencil and paper in the back of a moving ambulance. 

Check out EMS Logger Plus if you need more flexibility or need to email the log.

Twiage – Twitter for Triage!

APP to Watch!

Twiage empowers paramedics and EMTs to stream real-time patient alerts and updates with hospital or ER care teams in seconds. Twiage is free for EMS and 100 percent HIPAA compliant.

Key Features:

• 100 percent HIPAA compliant – no locally saved patient data
• Instantly share photos of trauma scenes and other injuries
• Prehospital video recording for strokes
• Instantly share EKGs
• Secure patient IDs, enabling hospitals to pre-register patients and look up a patient’s medical history
• Report your location by GPS
• Two-way communication with nurses and doctors
• Customizable algorithms that help standardize prehospital communication
• Instant run-sheets created for the hospital

 Know of any good apps for EMS? Better yet, do you use an app regularly that you want to tell us about? Let us know, we love to hear and share stories on technology that makes your job easier.