West Coast EMT Block One Exam

For every emergency request, what information does the dispatcher NOT need to gather?

1. Caller’s phone number.

2. Nature of the call.

3. Location of the patient(s).

4. Patient's medical history.

The correct answer is: Patient's medical history.

The dispatcher does not need to gather the patient's medical history for every emergency request because the immediate priority is to ensure a rapid response to the situation at hand. The essential information the dispatcher needs includes the caller's phone number, the nature of the call, and the location of the patients. This ensures that emergency services can be dispatched promptly and efficiently. Gathering the patient’s medical history is typically more detailed and might be relevant once the medical team arrives on the scene or during transport to a medical facility. However, for dispatch purposes, the focus remains on the urgency of the situation rather than an in-depth medical profile. Thus, while knowing the patient's history can be beneficial, it is not a critical piece of information needed right at the moment of the call for dispatch purposes.