The PZC (patient assignment code) decides which hospital an emergency patient is taken to. This article describes the workflow in the session: how units transmit the PZC, how you as the dispatcher set the transport destination, and how you register the patient with the hospital. How hospitals, departments and PZC assignments are set up is described in the article PZC System: Configuring Hospitals in the Administration Area.
Workflow at a glance
A unit treats the patient on scene.
The unit transmits the patient data and shortly afterwards the PZC, with a preselected hospital depending on the PZC mode.
You read the PZC in the patient module of the operation desk.
In the Hospitals tab of the status overview, you allocate the patient to a hospital with the allocation form. The hospital accepts or refuses.
If the hospital accepts, the patient automatically gets the hospital and department as destination in the patient module.
The unit drives to the entrance of the assigned department.
The PZC in brief
A PZC consists of six digits:
Digits | Meaning | Example |
1–3 | Incident code (condition / injury) |
|
4–5 | Age in years |
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6 | Urgency level |
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Urgency level | Color | Meaning |
1 | red | Immediate intervention |
2 | yellow | Inpatient admission likely |
3 | green | Outpatient treatment sufficient |
The system always shows a PZC with its description, e.g.: [PZC 281 52 2] 2xx Injuries / accidents → 28x Physical / chemical → 281 Burn / scald injury | 52 years | Inpatient admission likely
Which patients have a PZC?
Every emergency patient who is transported has a PZC. A living patient without a PZC is treated on scene and not transported.
After successful resuscitation, the patient gets the PZC
132(Resuscitation ROSC).Deceased patients have no PZC.
Non-urgent patient transports (planned transports) go to their ordered destination regardless of the PZC. A destination you assign still takes precedence.
Treatment order
The urgency level also determines triage: with several patients on scene, units treat red patients first, then yellow, then green, the deceased last. A green patient is still treated if all red and yellow patients are already being treated by other units. The situation report also counts patients by urgency level (deceased as red, patients without a PZC as green).
PZC mode: who chooses the hospital?
The PZC mode defines how much of the hospital choice the units handle themselves. It applies to emergency patients, not to non-urgent patient transports.
Mode | Unit behavior | Your task |
Auto | Units send the PZC, preselect the best matching hospital, assign it as destination and drive there. | No action needed. You may still change the destination. |
Hybrid | Units send the PZC with a preselected hospital and drive there without waiting. | Assign the destination (hospital, department) in the patient. A different hospital redirects the unit, even while it is driving. |
Manual | Units send the PZC without a hospital and wait on scene. | Assign the destination (hospital, department) in the patient for every transport. |
In all modes: a destination you assign always takes precedence over the unit's preselection.
Setting the PZC mode
When starting the simulation: in the start form under Hospital selection (PZC).
During the simulation: on the session's start page in the simulation bar, using the PZC: … button.
The session owner sets the mode. With every change, all participants receive a chat message with the new mode and what to do now.
Note: Which hospital the units preselect depends on the dispatch center configuration (option Transport destination by hospital PZC assignment). The preselection considers distance, not the current occupancy of the hospital.
Transmitting the PZC
Units with GPS
Units equipped with GPS transmit the PZC digitally:
First the patient data is transmitted, then 10 to 25 seconds later the PZC (before the transport starts).
A notification of the category PZC Reported appears, e.g.
Patient "John Doe": [PZC 232 18 3] …. It stays until a destination is assigned to the patient.The PZC is entered in the patient module and logged in the operation's event log.
The PZC appears in the Received PZCs list in the Hospitals tab.
Units without GPS
Units without GPS equipment report the PZC verbally, mostly by radio (approx. 85 %), less often by a call on the office line (approx. 15 %). The report contains:
the PZC,
the unit's preferred hospital (or a request to assign a hospital in Manual mode),
part of the details for the allocation form, e.g. sex and age, resuscitation, ventilated, trauma bay, cath lab, infection, physician on board.
Important: With a verbal report, nothing is transferred automatically to the operation desk. Enter the PZC in the patient module yourself.
A unit without GPS only knows the destination you tell it. The following buttons are available on the radio (and in a phone call with the unit):
Button | Effect |
Tell Destination | Tells the destination assigned to the patient in the operation. Without an assigned destination, the message "Please assign a destination to the unit's patient in the operation first." appears. |
Question: PZC | The unit repeats its PZC. |
Question: Preferred Hospital | The unit names its preferred hospital. |
The unit confirms a destination it has been told and then drives there.
Note: An allocation in the Hospitals tab also only sets the destination in the operation. For a unit without GPS, you must additionally tell the destination with Tell Destination.
The patient module of the operation desk
The patient module of the operation desk shows all patients of the operation. A colored stripe shows the urgency level of the PZC (red, yellow, green). The list includes the columns PZC, Units, Preselection and Destination.
The details of a patient are divided into three sections:
Section | Content |
Patient data | Name, age / date of birth, sex and other details about the patient. |
Unit transmissions | What the unit transmitted: the PZC (6 digits, with description) and the Preselection, i.e. the hospital the unit preselected. |
Assignment | The Destination (hospital or address) and the Department you give the unit. Take from preselection sets the preselected hospital as destination, Show Destination shows it on the map. |
You can correct or enter the PZC yourself in the PZC field (6 digits: incident code, age, urgency, e.g. 232183).
The patient module doesn't inform the hospital
A patient transport involves three parties: the dispatch center, the unit and the hospital. ResQueServe keeps the dispatch center's two conversations apart, as in reality:
Conversation | Where | What it changes |
Dispatch center ↔ unit | Patient module of the operation desk | Where the unit drives (destination and department). |
Dispatch center ↔ hospital | Hospitals tab of the status overview | The occupancy of the departments. |
A destination set directly in the patient module doesn't occupy a place at the hospital. This is intended: if, for example, the unit has a personal agreement with a hospital that would normally not accept the PZC, you set the destination directly. The simulation continues, but the occupancy in the Hospitals tab doesn't include this patient.
Only an allocation with the allocation form occupies the hospital. It also sets the destination and department in the patient module automatically.
The "Hospitals" tab
The Hospitals tab of the status overview is the dispatch center's information exchange with the hospitals.
Finding hospitals for a PZC
Under Received PZCs, choose the patient's PZC (the most recently transmitted PZCs, newest first) and click Take over information. Alternatively, enter a PZC by hand (PZC (6 digits)).
The tab now shows only the hospitals that admit this PZC at this urgency level, each with the admitting department. If there is none, "No hospital accepts this PZC with this urgency level." appears.
The Preselection of the unit is marked and listed first.
All hospitals removes the filter again.
Without a PZC, the tab shows all hospitals with the departments to which the dispatch center assigned at least one PZC.
Note: A PZC entered by hand belongs to no patient of the operation desk. An allocation with it only occupies the hospital; no destination is set.
Reading the occupancy
For each department, the tab shows:
"x of y free": free places now. A place counts as taken from the moment the form is sent, because the hospital keeps it for the announced patient.
an occupancy grid in green, yellow and red over the next time slots. It shows the treatment itself, from arrival to end. This is also what the hospital checks for a new allocation.
Next to the grid are the Allocations whose treatment isn't over yet (patient, arrival, occupied until).
The tab updates automatically when an allocation is made, changed or deleted at any workplace, when the session clock enters the next slot, and when the simulation speed or time changes.
Hospitals' own patients
Unless the dispatch center has disabled it, hospitals are already occupied by their own patients (walk-ins, inpatients, elective patients) when the simulation starts, depending on time of day, weekday and season. No new own patients arrive; they are discharged one by one. After that, only your allocations occupy the hospitals.
The allocation form
Clicking Allocate for a hospital opens the form Allocation to …. It is prefilled with everything the dispatch center knows:
Field | Source |
Triage category | Always Emergency care. |
Arrival time | The unit's driving time to the hospital (or to the department's entrance), rounded up to 5 minutes (5 to 60 min.). |
Sex, Age | From the patient module (age from the PZC if unknown). |
Accompanied by a doctor | Yes if a doctor unit (e.g. NEF, NAW, RTH) is assigned to the patient. |
Phone | Office number of the dispatch center. |
Allocation by | Emergency medical service if the hospital is the unit's preselection, otherwise Dispatch center. Other values: Patient's request, Referral, EMERGENCY ALLOCATION. |
Operation number, Call sign, Means of transport | From the operation and the transporting unit. |
Diagnosis | The PZC. |
The other details are information for the hospital and are stored with the allocation: Shock room alarm, Cardiac catheter alarm, ABCD ((A)irway, (B)reathing, (C)irculation, (D)isability), Occasion, Work / commuting / school accident, Resuscitation, Ventilated, Infectious, Pregnant and Remark (at most 175 characters, no patient names).
Required fields are marked in red. If something is missing, "Fill in the required fields marked in red." appears.
Allocate sends the form to the hospital. If it accepts, "Allocated to …." appears and the patient gets the hospital and department as destination in the patient module.
When does the hospital refuse?
The hospital refuses the allocation if
it doesn't admit the PZC at this urgency level ("The hospital doesn't accept this PZC and urgency level."), or
the department has no free place at any time between arrival and the end of the treatment ("The hospital refuses: the department has no free place during the treatment.").
The treatment time is currently fixed: 120 minutes for red, 90 minutes for yellow, 60 minutes for green. The capacity of the departments is set by the dispatch center in the administration area.
If the hospital refuses, choose a different one. Ideally it is the unit's preselection, otherwise another hospital. You have the last word.
Editing and deleting allocations
Edit allocation: Changes the form details (same hospital, department and PZC). The arrival time counts from when the form was first sent. The hospital checks again whether a place is free for the changed treatment time. The destination in the patient module stays unchanged.
Delete allocation: The place at the hospital becomes free again. The destination in the patient module stays and is changed there by you.
Driving to the hospital
Ground units drive to the entrance of the assigned department if the dispatch center has configured one, otherwise to the hospital.
An emergency physician accompanies the patient when needed. The accompanying doctor unit is assigned to the patient automatically.
Helicopters land on the landing zone of the department or the hospital. For longer distances (over 30 km), the helicopter takes over the transport itself.
Ground transport from the helicopter landing zone
If the landing zone is more than 500 m away from the hospital (e.g. at an airfield), the helicopter requests a ground transport by radio right after take-off, e.g. "landing at …, need an ambulance for onward transport to …".
There is no emergency call for this transport: the radio request is the trigger. Create a new operation at the landing zone POI and dispatch an ambulance.
The ambulance waits for the helicopter or takes the patient over after landing. If the helicopter's emergency physician accompanies the patient, the physician rides along in the ambulance.
After the handover at the hospital, the ambulance brings the physician back to the landing zone.
An ambulance that is taking over a patient, transporting it or bringing the physician back is not available and states the reason on the radio.
Options and Limitations
What is possible?
Different play styles: With the PZC mode you choose between fully automatic hospital choice (Auto), control while units keep moving (Hybrid) and full control by the dispatcher (Manual). The mode can be changed during the simulation.
Redirecting while driving: A newly assigned hospital redirects the unit.
Individual agreements: A destination can be set directly in the patient module without occupying the hospital.
Working together: Allocations are visible at all workplaces of the session and update live.
What is not possible / Limitations?
No occupancy without the form: Only allocations with the allocation form occupy a hospital.
Only hospitals with a PZC assignment: A hospital to which the dispatch center hasn't assigned the PZC doesn't accept an allocation. Such a destination can only be set directly in the patient module.
Fixed treatment time: 120, 90 or 60 minutes depending on the urgency level.
Preselection without occupancy: The units' preselection is based on distance, not on free places.
No automatic transfer for units without GPS: The PZC and destination must be entered and told by hand.
Best Practices
Start with "Auto" or "Hybrid": The simulation keeps going while you get familiar with the Hospitals tab. Manual suits exercises focusing on hospital allocation.
Always allocate with the form: Only then is the hospitals' occupancy correct, and later allocations aren't refused unexpectedly.
Check the preselection first: The unit's preselection is listed at the top of the Hospitals tab. If it has a free place, it is usually the fastest choice.
Red patients first: With several patients, allocate the red ones first. They occupy places the longest.
Keep an eye on units without GPS: Enter the reported PZC in the patient module right away and tell the destination with Tell Destination after the allocation.
Keep allocations up to date: Delete allocations when a patient isn't transported after all or goes to another hospital. This frees the place again.