To encourage EMTs and paramedics to report incidents of assault or violence on the job, several EMS organizations have gotten together to add a violence incident reporting component to the EMS Voluntary Event Notification Tool (E.V.E.N.T.).
Launched in 2010 by the Center for Leadership, Innovation, and Research in EMS with the support of the North Central EMS Institute, the National EMS Management Association (NEMSMA), the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and the National Association of State EMS Officials, E.V.E.N.T. is a website that enables field providers to anonymously report adverse events or close calls involving patient care or vehicles. The goal is to collect data that will eventually lead to policies, procedures and training to improve safety in EMS, says NEMSMA president Skip Kirkwood.
But the E.V.E.N.T. reporting tool didn’t include a section for reporting violence—until now. “We want there to be a place to make reports of violent encounters, and by doing so we can learn about the epidemiology of violence against medics,” Kirkwood says.
Getting a handle on the prevalence of violence against EMS providers has been difficult. For instance, while a few surveys and anecdotal reports suggest that EMS providers face violence all too often, EMS providers tend to not report the incidents to their supervisors; nor has there been any mechanism in place for reporting incidents outside of the EMS agency. “We suspect injuries from violence are grossly underreported, for several reasons,” Kirkwood says. “One is that medics say when they report an incidence of violence, the bosses are not at all sympathetic. They subject them to something like an internal affairs investigation instead of being supportive.”
Another reason is financial. Many EMS providers work multiple jobs, he explains. If they file a workers’ comp claim for an incident that occurred at one job, they receive only the pay due to them from that employer, since they can’t work at their other jobs while they’re collecting workers’ comp from the other.
Finally, there has long been a tacit acceptance that being roughed up on occasion is part of the wacky world of EMS. The mindset of many EMS providers is that the people they deal with are their patients, which may make them more tolerant of someone throwing a punch or getting physical. “Part of the culture of EMS is if an employee gets knocked around, the other employees tease them instead of being supportive,” Kirkwood says. “It’s a lot different with cops. What do other cops do if somebody takes a swing at a cop? They jump in and take him to jail. So we have huge cultural issues to overcome.”
Currently, E.V.E.N.T. is getting about six reports a month of patient safety events, vehicle crashes or near-misses, Kirkwood says. Although the reporting tool has been slow to catch on, he believes the numbers will grow as more people learn about it and become comfortable that the reports are confidential. (In the violence reporting tool, medics and EMTs are asked basic information such as the date, city and state of the incident; their age and gender; the type of injury; treatment; and basic information about the assailant. Responders are also asked whether their perception of the level of harm was “low level” or a “deadly” threat.)
Kirkwood urges EMS managers and supervisors to share the violence reporting tool with their staff. View it at event.clirems.org/ ViolenceEvent.aspx.
New Orleans EMS deploys mobile interpretation device
To help communicate with non-English speakers who reside in or visit New Orleans, New Orleans EMS has deployed a new mobile interpretation device that connects to live translators who can speak directly to patients in 180 languages.
New Orleans EMS and police deployed ELSA (Enabling Language Services Anywhere) in preparation for the influx of tourists coming for Super Bowl XLVII and Mardi Gras, which were held in the city during a three-week period from Jan. 25 to Feb. 12. The device enables responders to connect to translators with a single button push, while the microphone/speakers inside the device pick up and broadcast voices loudly enough so that responders don’t need to hold the device while they work the call, says Linda Stanton, vice president of marketing for Minneapolis-based RTT Mobile Interpretation, which launched ELSA in January.
“There is extensive research that shows in any situation if you are able to speak to somebody in their native language at the first encounter, the series of events that follow will go so much better for both parties,” Stanton says.
New Orleans EMS has already used the device twice, including during a recent call for a burned toddler whose family only spoke Arabic and another for a Spanish-speaking man who fell off a roof under repair at a home damaged in Hurricane Katrina. “We were able to use the device to find out where he was hurting and if he hit anything on the way down,” says Ken Bouvier, deputy chief of New Orleans EMS. “The guy couldn’t speak English, and nobody on the scene spoke English.”
Benefits of ELSA include that it enables responders to rapidly connect with a translator 24/7 without needing the help of dispatch, Stanton says. The device is also hands-free after the initial button is pushed.
RTT Mobile donated 45 devices to New Orleans EMS. The usual cost is $395 for each device, a one-time $40 activation fee and a $20-per-month recurring charge. There is also a $1.50 per-minute charge each time a translator is contacted, with packages available. Translators are located either in an RTT Mobile Minnesota call center or elsewhere in the United States.
The Clearwater, Fla., Police Department also recently started using ELSA. Other clients include the Mall at Millenia in Orlando, Fla., as well as jails, county attorney’s offices and hospitals.
For more information, visit rttmobile.com.
AMR’s parent company preparing for IPO
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Emergency Medical Services Corp. (EMSC), the parent company of American Medical Response in Greenwood Village, Colo., is planning an initial public offering for later this year. In 2011, EMSC was bought by the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $2.9 billion. The firm also assumed $300 million of EMSC debt.
