From the Chief (also published in the Bugle):

Akhil Sondhi was kind enough to draft this bit of intel and share it over the weekend. There are postings around the base that also shed some light on recent locking issues, but as always, Mr. Sondhi has done a fantastic job breaking these nuances down and passing the info along, as it’s pretty important stuff, I’m repeating his message in the Bugle. Thank You again Akhil.

Hi all, I’m sure you’ve all noticed some new errors when trying to lock charts. This is due to an NYS update to NEMSIS. In regards to the issue about allergies, here’s what you should know:
– You can use the drop downs for any pertinent negatives, including no allergies or unknown
– You MUST select allergies from the pick list provided by EMS charts. Free-typing is not valid.
– This allows for data collection on the back end for the state. For a computer, “Metoprolol” “metoprolol” and “metoprolol 50mg” are all 3 completely separate allergies/meds.
– Unfortunately we have no control over this change. A number of existing patient records have been entered without this in mind and thus even imported demographics will require a once-over to correct. I know it’s tedious and I am sorry.
– If an allergy is not in the picklist, you can free type it but this should not be encountered with any frequency. Food allergies are not applicable to this field.

If you have any questions or issues locking charts don’t hesitate to shoot me an email at akhil.sondhi@brightonambulance.org or a text at 5857757622.

If you’re unable to lock a chart due to this, notify the shift supervisor and send me the PRID and I will take a look at it.