Prehospital Care Reports (PCRs)

I am pleased to announce that the Office of Prehospital Care received a small shipment of Prehospital Care Reports (PCRs) this morning. We have been informed that on-going printing will resume and our future PCR orders will be filled without delay.

At this point, we will begin to distribute PCRs first to transporting EMS agencies and secondly to ALS First Response (ALS FR) agencies. BLS FRs will continue to receive BLS FR forms. EMS agencies that are completely out of PCRs will receive priority when filling order requests.

Please contact the Office of Prehospital Care at (716) 898-3600 to place your PCR order request.

PCR Order Form

Oversight of the distribution and tracking of Patient Care Reports (PCRs) to and from EMS agencies comprises a large part of the deliverables required of all the Regional Program Agencies in New York State. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH)Bureau of Emergency Medical Services (BEMS) requires that the Regional EMS Office inform them when certified ambulance or ALS First Response (ALSFR) agencies do not submit PCRs on a monthly basis.

Online PCR In-Service

The Office of Prehsopital care has produced an online training course that teaches you the proper way to complete and submit a PCR. Watch the video and take the quizzes to get your PCR certificate.

Watch the video

Sign-up for the Next Inservice

Version 5 PCRs

The NYS DOH Bureau of Emergency Medical Services requires the use of the Version-5 New York State Prehospital Care Report (PCR) (DOH 3283). Agencies should not be using any form other that the Version-5 PCRs.

Any services still in possession of earlier forms should contact the Regional Office as soon as possible to make arrangements to return these PCRs.

NYS DOH has issued a policy providing instructions for the completion of the Version-5 PCRs.

NYS DOH EMS Bureau Policy No. 03-03 : Instructions for completing a Version-5, NYS PCR
(Attachment DOH 3283 - Sample Copy of Version 5)

All agencies should ensure that their providers have been in-serviced as to the changes in format between the Version-5 and Version-4 PCRs outlined in the policy statement.

PCR Use and Storage

The New York State Department of Health (NYS DOH) EMS Bureau has policies that affect the use and storage of PCRs:

NYS DOH EMS Bureau Policy No. 02-05: Re: Prehospital Care Reports
(Supercedes Policy No.s 85-01& 96-01)

Regional PCR Submission

Ambulance & ALS First Response (ALSFR)
Completed PCRs and Continuation forms are to be submitted at the end of every month to the Regional EMS Office. Agencies with larger call volumes may forward PCRs more frequently throughout the month.

The EMS Office can, on average, receive a few thousand PCRs per month. The staff asks that the agencies follow the requested submission format outlined in the Regional PCR Tracking and Distribution Guide. PCRs should be mailed in an envelope, appropriately sized to a PCR form, unfolded. The package should be marked "Medical Records" and include a completed Monthly PCR Submission Report.

Basic Life Support First Response (BLSFR)
BLSFR agencies are responsible for the storage and security of their completed NYS BLSFR PCR forms.

NOTE: The use of the National Fire Incident Report (NFIR) or any other fire reporting system DOES NOT replace the necessity to complete a NYS BLSFR PCR form on medical aid calls.

PCR Screening

All PCRs should be screened by the agency prior to submission to the Regional EMS Office for Quality Assurance/ Quality Improvement (QA/QI) purposes. When PCRs are received by the Regional EMS Office, the PCRs are screened again for completion of data points designated by NYSDOH BEMS.

PCRs missing the following information will be returned to the agency for correction and resubmission:

Date of Call
Agency Code
Geo-Location Code
Presenting Problem
Patient Name
*Patient Social Security #

*NOTE: Patients' SS#'s are being requested on the version 5 PCRs in order to capture pre-hospital data and link it to the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS), a comprehensive patient data system that is already populated with hospital based care information.

If a SS# is not available, or does not exist, please enter all zeros (0) in this field.

Per NYS DOH EMS Bureau, any corrections made to a PCR after it's submission should be in a different color ink, dated and marked with the initials of the person who supplied the information.

Order PCRs

The Office of Prehospital Care has made ordering your PCR forms easier by providing an online order form.

By submitting this order form you are confirming that you are a representative of your given EMS agency and are authorized to order Patient Care Reports on behalf of said agency. Also you agree that all requested PCRs have been ordered specifically to fulfull the documentation requirements indicated in NYS EMS CRR Part 800. Furthermore, you agree that once used or voided, all research copies of PRCs will be returned to the Office of Prehospital Care in accordance with NYS Public Health law article 30.

PCR Order Form