RQI Partners and FirstWatch combine resuscitation quality improvement solution, analytics and data to help save more lives
Companies collaborate to help 9-1-1 emergency communication centers measure, improve response to cardiac arrest calls
DALLAS, July 8, 2021 – More than 350,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in the U.S. annually. About 90% of people who suffer out-of-hospital cardiac arrest die. Without immediate recognition and CPR delivery, the chance of survival decreases significantly as each minute without lifesaving interventions passes. One of the most critical actions a community’s emergency communication center (ECC) can take to save more lives is leveraging evidence-based telecommunicator CPR (T-CPR) protocols to guide callers on how to perform CPR.
RQI Partners, a partnership between and service provider for the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, and FirstWatch, a technology company that uses improvement science to support public safety and healthcare organizations, launched today RQI®-T Analytics powered by FirstWatch. This new collaboration empowers emergency communication centers and 9-1-1 telecommunicators to optimize data to measure and improve T-CPR performance.
RQI-T Analytics powered by FirstWatch brings FirstWatch’s renowned expertise in turning data into meaningful information to ECCs using RQI-T, or RQI Telecommunicator, a blended educational and resuscitation quality improvement program that provides continuous, simulation-based, mastery learning, practice and analytics to telecommunicators for delivery of high-quality telephone CPR to bystanders. The program is co-developed by the American Heart Association, the leading voluntary organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, Laerdal Medical, the world leader in medical simulation and resuscitation training, and the Resuscitation Academy Foundation.
“The experts at FirstWatch have a proven track record of helping emergency communication centers understand where they’re excelling and where they have room for improvement,” said Julie Buckingham, RQI-T program manager at RQI Partners. “This collaboration is impactful for RQI-T and the 9-1-1 community, but the real winners are the thousands of people whose lives will be saved if they receive early, effective CPR.”
RQI-T Analytics powered by FirstWatch will equip ECC leaders and 9-1-1 telecommunicators with real-time data analysis and feedback, using the interactive, easy-to-understand dashboards for which FirstWatch is known. With RQI-T Analytics, these first first responders will have insight into goal achievement, a change in performance and a roadmap to the height of success — saving more lives.
“Resuscitation Quality Improvement® is revolutionizing how we think about education and quality improvement in public safety, especially in the emergency communication center,” said Todd Stout, founder and president of FirstWatch. “The entire FirstWatch team is excited to help RQI Partners provide the feedback 9-1-1 telecommunicators need to make a real difference in their communities.”
RQI-T uses evidence-based methods to deliver concise, quarterly telecommunicator CPR simulation sessions that provide telecommunicators with the skills, competence and confidence to rapidly identify a cardiac arrest and initiate CPR, meeting the Association’s T-CPR standards. The combination of RQI-T’s innovative approach to resuscitation education and FirstWatch’s decades of experience helping public safety agencies improve performance will maximize telecommunicators’ lifesaving potential, giving cardiac arrest victims the best chance of survival.
To learn more about the RQI-T program, visit rqipartners.com/rqit. For additional information on RQI-T Analytics powered by FirstWatch, visit https://firstwatch.net/partnersforlife/.
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About RQI Partners LLC
RQI Partners LLC is a partnership between the American Heart Association and Laerdal Medical, positioning the organizations to deliver innovative solutions that accelerate the impact of their lifesaving mission. The company blends the Association’s leadership in science and resuscitation education with Laerdal’s expertise in technology and implementation to deliver impactful and innovative resuscitation quality improvement programs. For more information, visit www.rqipartners.com and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About FirstWatch
FirstWatch helps public safety and healthcare professionals serve their communities through the use of technology and the science of quality improvement. Drawing on deep experience in emergency services, the FirstWatch team develops software and personalized solutions to help organizations continuously improve at what they do. Founded in 1998, and based in Carlsbad, Calif., FirstWatch has partnered with more than 500 communities across North America to improve outcomes, efficiency, safety and operations. Learn more at https://firstwatch.net.
For Media Inquiries, contact:
RQI Partners: Stephanie M. Brown; C: 214-984-0013; stephanie.brown@rqipartners.com
FirstWatch: Jenny Abercrombie; C: 951-440-6848; jabercrombie@firstwatch.net
