Development of the Database

Database Content

With a philosophical understanding of a “database” in hand, the remain­der of the chapter should build into the tangible tools necessary to build and interface with a neonatal and/or pediatric transport database.

Building a locally useful database will be addressed shortly, but there are existing databases worthy of review. The Congenital Heart Surgeons Society is a group of 100 pediatric heart surgeons (65 institutions) whose members recognized in 1985 that pooled experience from multiple institu­tions was the only way that its members could improve their ability to deter­mine the best methods of treating patients with congenital heart disease. That vision of what the pooled experience could accomplish was developed into the Congenital Heart Surgeons' Society Data Center (CHSSDC), with a mission to “improve care...through collaborative research” and a vision that “the data center is a research engine and an academic resource which serves to extract knowledge from the collective clinical experience of the membership.”¹ The focus of the CHSSDC is clear. Other fields in medicine have embarked on database development, with varying effectiveness.

The most common databases in practice do not have fancy names or acronyms but rather live and work in front of many of us daily. The filing cabinet of monthly billing sheets or a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet track­ing staff certifications or fleet maintenance schedules are both databases used regularly in many of transport programs. Although often small-scale, those local databases are built to accomplish focused tasks, and most do that effectively. Microsoft Access and FileMaker Pro are 2 of many plat­forms for custom databases, with both demonstrating relative ease of use and programmability. Beyond the scope of “homegrown” and custom-built databases are numerous proprietary database and electronic health records specific to EMS and/or the interfacility transport setting.