6 low- or no-cost ways to improve safety
Improve safety for you, your crew, your patient and your community with these simple strategies anyone can implement
This article originally posted in the Mar. 2, 2021 EMS1 Safety newsletter, "6 low/no-cost safety strategies; Video: How to avoid patient drops." Subscribe today to receive safety best practices, lessons learned and training tips delivered straight to your inbox.
We can scroll through the archives – or even check daily for updates – on EMS1 to see headlines related to ambulance crashes, crew and patient safety or even violence targeted toward us as responders. The fact is, our job is certainly not without risk (but, that doesn’t that we can’t do what we can to reduce it whenever and wherever possible).
When I was undergoing my initial firefighter education and eventually advancing into a career firefighter/paramedic role, I recall a mantra that was engrained into my mind (and the minds of many others) that still resonates with me today: life safety, incident stabilization and property conservation. This was the essential equation (besides the fire tetrahedron) that drove what we did as professionals. It was all about going home after the call and about making a positive impact in an effort to combat any negatives. It wasn’t a complicated equation; it was quite simple and many of the steps that we took had either a low- or no-cost action associated.
The fact is, there’s a lot that we can do within the EMS industry to promote safety and to reduce the risk of injury, error and further harm. Here are 6 low or no-cost ways to improve safety.