ESO Data Connects Patient Outcomes

We often talk about a patient’s chain of survival with each link representing the emergency caller, emergency dispatcher, first responders, and hospital crew, each performing their role to ensure the patient’s best possible outcome. But in the realm of 911, the chain of information often ends along with the call, and the disconnection is felt in more ways than one.

What if the data didn’t end there? And what if both the patient and the system could benefit from the continued connection?

In November 2025, the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch^® (IAED^™) announced a partnership with ESO, the leading global data services and software provider for EMS, fire departments, hospitals, and government agencies, to address those very questions and the innovation potential they could unlock.

Initiating partnership

The IAED’s co-founder Dr. Jeff Clawson, M.D., and President Jerry Overton have shared years of connections with ESO Chief Medical Officer Dr. Brent Meyers and ESO CEO Dr. Eric Beck as colleagues through different chapters of career growth, leading to a formal alliance.

However, the main impetus driving this collaboration was the largest dispatch outcome study ever published, appearing in Prehospital Emergency Care in April 2024. The collaborative effort of heavy-hitting EMS researchers— including Dr. Matthew Levy at Johns Hopkins University and Dr. Remle Crowe with ESO—brought to light data pulled from partnering agencies in the southern United States.¹

“The study links emergency calls and response assignments with ambulance care and hospital outcomes across a number of communities,” Beck said. “That seminal piece of outcomes-based research was the proof of concept of what a research partnership could create.”

The IAED’s partnership with ESO is a natural fit, as both are considered global leaders in their spheres. As a software company by origin, ESO’s reach extends uniquely beyond a specific technology or proprietary system. They are led by their mission to improve health and safety outcomes through the power of data, which they achieve by creating and connecting data ecosystems.

“Simply put, we believe we need to have a feedback loop in order to drive continuous improvement,” Beck said. “We began with digitizing ambulance records, but ESO’s signature innovation was this linkage of EMS data to the hospital data and bringing an outcome back, leading EMTs and paramedics to examine their contribution in patient outcomes. This connection has grown from field clinicians to now include the EMD to refine protocols and response plans.” ESO's mission is to improve health and safety outcomes through the power of data.

Shared vision

Tracking and analyzing patient outcome data and connecting it to dispatch data sets could provide evidence for significant changes as part of a more informed, results-driven approach. Additionally, data trends may reveal opportunities for alternative care for some patients, potentially alleviating some of the strains on the emergency response system—both EMS and the emergency department.

“We look at all forms of data—dispatch data, clinical ambulance data, prehospital and hospital data—and then we connect them, which is the piece that is unique,” Beck said. “We really appreciate the IAED’s established protocol systems and ProQA^® software because they provide a standardized approach, already collecting and quantifying data from their agencies. We are now focused on the link to hospitals and creating that feedback loop all the way to dispatch.”

ESO also has the ability to create a longitudinal patient record, looking at one patient over time and connecting records from multiple encounters and settings, forming a history that can provide a bigger picture for patient care.

“We can understand the patient’s full journey of months and years with three-dimensional data,” Beck said. “I often say that the world was flat until it was round. The world is round today. We are connected by data to help understand the journey of a patient over time, unlocking the opportunity to drive further improvements and outcomes.”

Though collecting ambulance and hospital data itself isn’t a new concept, ESO focuses on forging the bridge between organizations viewing the same patient or incident from different perspectives.

“There has been a great deal of research in this field,” Beck said. “But the view has never been at scale, systematic, or available globally—not in a way that can accelerate the learning cycle and improvement—from dispatch to outcome.”

That’s where the IAED’s Data Center enters the scene with millions of emergency communication center records coming from 377 medical agencies, 183 fire agencies, and 105 police agencies. The data shows call volumes, Chief Complaint types, response assignments, and call times, which are all automatically extracted and transferred to a data warehouse and shared on the IAED’s dashboard. ESO can bring even more power to this analytics effort and connect the data with related paramedic and hospital records. This provides a natural starting place for building and connecting communities that are already using the same protocol and data systems.

Extended impact

The full potential of these connections lives up to Overton’s promise of “unprecedented insights,” with ESO’s data illuminating a path to smarter, safer choices for patient care, beginning with the first, first responder’s role in dispatch.

“We want to share the research and disseminate that globally along with the IAED,” Beck said. “It’s unlocking the opportunity to drive further improvements and better outcomes. The 911 system has always been about saving lives, and we see how data can be a part of that effort.”

So, what can data connections in the EMD, EMS, and ER environment reveal?

A great example of 911 data impact was presented in Stockholm, Sweden in 2025. Data linkage revealed that patients with a suspected stroke identified by the EMD had twice the chance of survival. However, data has also revealed between 30–50% of strokes diagnosed at the hospital were unrecognized by EMS, revealing improvement work that can still be done.

“ESO outcomes with dispatch data provide a full view of how we can refine our processes, protocols, and response plans,” Beck said. “The linked data reveals opportunities for improvement, which drives impactful decisions to address the issues that currently elude us.”

Presently, ESO plans to focus on the medical side of data ecosystems and improvements, though the fire service is in view to follow. Undoubtedly, law enforcement overlaps with several incident types—including mental and behavioral incidents—but ESO’s primary competency begins with EMS, including how to alleviate an overdemand on limited resources.

“Data shows us that 43% of all emergency responses are attributed to 19% of unique callers who make repeated calls to 911,” Beck said. “Every organization wants to ensure it meets the needs of each caller, but it doesn’t have to be in the same way it’s always been done. Without minimizing time-sensitive care, data can be used to safely assign alternative response plans, including connecting with telemedicine, mobile integrated health (MIH) programs, community paramedics, behavioral health resources, or a nurse triage system such as the IAED’s Emergency Communication Nurse System^™ (ECNS^™).”

Conclusion

Throughout the history of the IAED, Dr. Clawson has held the vision of creating the “Dispatch Labs” like the American industrial research team “the Bell Labs.” In a similar vein, the ESO Labs’ innovation team has focused on products, as well as data, research, science, and improvement led for years by Dr. Myers. With over 200 scientific, peer-reviewed publications resulting from their linked outcomes data ecosystem, partnership with ESO adds incredible insights to the IAED’s scientific, evidence-based protocol system and growing research base. Together, ESO and IAED plan to unlock a new level of capability with improved 911 processes and resulting patient care.

As ESO continues to grow around the globe, your center can be part of the partnership by providing data you already collect. Express interest today to be part of an inaugural group spearheading the solution through connection by emailing brent.myers@eso.com.

Source

1. Levy, M. J., Crowe, R. P., Abraham, H., Bailey, A., Blue, M., Ekl, R., Garfinkel, E., Holloman, J. B., Hutchens, J., Jacobsen, R., Johnson, C., Margolis, A., Troncoso, R., Williams, J. G., Myers, J. B. “Dispatch Categories as Indicators of Out-of-Hospital Time Critical Interventions and Associated Emergency Department Outcomes.” National Library of Medicine. Prehospital Emergency Care. 2024; April 29. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38626286 (accessed Feb. 27, 2026).