Formulations in French Emergency Calls Transferred to Physicians

Abstract

This article investigates a collection of 64 formulations delivered by physicians in French emergency calls. When a call is transferred from assistant emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) to physician EMD, the latter typically formulates a version of prior talk for the caller to confirm (e.g. alors votre mari euh il tremble c’est ça “so your husband uh he’s shaking, is that correct”). Formulations allow physicians to connect the current interaction to the previous one and deflect callers from launching into potentially extended new beginnings. Formulations allow physicians to move to key questions and instructions faster, as a formulation opens a restricted sequential slot for callers to either confirm or disconfirm. However, because of their selective nature, callers may use their responsive turn to alter physicians’ formulations—repairing, expanding, or pushing back against the terms of the formulation. Data are in French, with English translation.