Patient Safety
The patient safety topic contains news, tips and expert-written articles sharing how EMS providers can build safety into every system of care, ensuring that patients receive the safest and most reliable care.
Establishing clear policies, protocols and building trust: PCHD EMS shares their body-worn cameras implementation journey
Is it the providers’ responsibility to stay until the patient can be located? If not, how long is long enough?
Check your knowledge of carbon monoxide poisoning causes, symptoms and protective strategies on scene
Video captured by patient’s mother and shared on Facebook shows the Philly firefighter using his smartphone while transporting the boy; the Fire Commissioner promises discipline
Lancaster Volunteer Ambulance Corps’ help denied in Buffalo because the EMS agency won’t pay a licensing fee to the city
A computer glitch sent an ambulance to the wrong address, delaying medic care for a cardiac arrest patient, who later died
Proper assessment, treatment, and transport of patients with traumatic brain injury saves lives, here’s how
The motorcycle will be able to get though the expected gridlock and provide quick assessment
The paramedic used the patient’s record to find the woman’s phone number and later repeatedly texted her
The woman faked a seizure and collapsed after her boyfriend repeatedly punched her and threw her down a flight of stairs
Add your tips to this list of ideas on avoiding a collision with pedestrians
A case of suspected elder abuse in Calif. is raising awareness of the signs of neglect that EMTs can keep an eye out for when in a patent’s home
Her husband who held her at knifepoint allowed her to place an order at Pizza Hut, and under the comments section she asked for 911
The files contain patients’ personal information from a defunct ambulance company and the state is investigating how they got there
The police are searching for the medics that were both fired 1 week ago for absenteeism
EMS providers need to understand anchoring, a type of cognitive bias, to prevent errors in prehospital patient assessment and care
His response to a severely abused 11-year-old was the most extreme medical case he’s seen, and the most successful recovery of his career
It took a bariatric litter, a bariatric rig and a lot of manpower to move the patient experiencing a medical emergency
Intuition is a valuable instinct; when the details don’t add up follow procedures to report suspicions of child abuse or neglect
Authorities and healthcare providers fail to protect and report signs of abuse
Investigation underway to determine why rocuronium, a paralyzing agent, was given instead of an anti-seizure medication
Experienced providers should re-evaluate priorities before riding a bad idea into the ground
The medic spent 41 minutes with the sick girl and believed her symptoms “of a mundane nature”
He at first thought it was a prank, but soon put it together as a domestic abuse situation
He fled from a psychiatric hospital as he was being loaded into an ambulance, and was hit by several cars when he ran onto a nearby busy highway
A 90-year-old woman ended up in a coma when the service, which provides flat-screen TVs and other amenities, allegedly let her fall on her apartment stairs
Lifting is one of those predictable moments in our mostly unpredictable jobs, and changing your technique can reduce pain
ACEP report describes need to create safety programs, and a culture of safety integral to every facet of EMS
EMS safety has recently taken on a new sense of importance, if not urgency
Complex and life-dependent systems often fail in their reliance on experience and professionalism alone