Towards a Clinical Decision Support System for Helping Medical Students in Emergency Call Centers

Abstract

In critical situations such as pandemic, medical students are often called to help in emergency call centers. However, they may encounter difficulties in phone triage because of a lack of medical skills. Here, we aim at developing a Clinical Decision Support System for helping medical students in phone call triage of pediatric patients. The system is based on the PAT (Pediatric Assessment Triangle) and local guidelines. It is composed of two interfaces. The first allows a quick assessment of severity signs, and the second provides recommendations and additional elements such as 'elements to keep in mind' or 'medical advice to give to patient'. The system was evaluated by 20 medical students, with two fictive clinical cases. 75% of them found the content useful and clear, and the navigation easy. 65% would feel more reassured to have this system in emergency call centers. Further works are planned to improve the system before implementation in real-life.