Organizational Structure in Action in a Paramedic Radio Call By Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D
Organizational Structure in Action in a Paramedic Radio Call Wayne Martin Mellinger PhD Introduction A paramedic transmits an electrocardiographic signal to an emergency department. The nurse hears the transmission but cannot obtain a usable tracing. The paramedic supplies his interpretation of the rhythm again, and the nurse accepts that report as a basis for proceeding. The exchange is brief. Its accomplishment is substantial: professionals separated by distance establish what can be known about a patient, whose observations can support further action, and how their work will continue despite a technical failure. Organizational coordination is visible in the way they resolve the problem. This paper examines a complete paramedic radio call for emergency field orders, originally published in my study of negotiated directives (Mellinger 1994, pp. 168–171). I return to the call with a broader question. How do participants make an emergency medical organization operative t...