Ambulance workers in South-East Brabant will soon be able to view patients’ medical information more quickly. This is to provide better emergency care. The GGD is the first in the Netherlands to start a trial.
By easily and quickly viewing important medical information on site, it can be prevented, for example, that someone with a do-not-resuscitate declaration is resuscitated.
Emergency summary
Ambulance staff can read a do-not-resuscitate statement in a so-called emergency summary. This also includes medical history, medication use, allergies and other agreements made.
From 2027, the GGD in South-East Brabant will test whether it will benefit patients if ambulance staff can view such an emergency summary. These medical data can also be requested from your GP outside office hours.
What about privacy?
But how safe is this when it comes to privacy? According to the GGD, a lot of attention is paid to this. For example, only ambulance staff can access the information if patients give permission for this.
“Without this permission, access is not possible,” said a spokesperson. The GGD also ensures strict access, registration of who has viewed the information and security.
First region in the Netherlands
Together with the general practitioner organization Pozob, the GGD is the first region in the Netherlands to test this method. If the trial goes well, the GGD will start the real implementation in the second quarter of 2027.
The intention is for the approach to be introduced throughout Southeast Brabant. And later perhaps throughout the Netherlands.