EMS Safety and Prehospital Emergency Care of Animals

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Katharyn T. Kryda ◽  
Ashley Mitek ◽  
Maureen McMichael
Keyword(s):  
Medical Treatment ◽  
Emergency Care ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Inhalation Injury ◽  
Smoke Inhalation ◽  
Prehospital Emergency Care ◽  
Transport Protocols ◽  
Smoke Inhalation Injury ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Prehospital Emergency

Abstract Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel frequently encounter animals in situations ranging from injured law enforcement canines (LEK9s) to pets with smoke inhalation injury. In recent years, several US states have enacted laws that legally allow EMS personnel to provide basic emergency care to certain animals. Currently, nine states allow some type of emergency medical treatment and/or ambulance transport of animals by EMS, and five states limit liability for vehicle damage resulting from rescuing animals trapped inside. Despite this expanding body of legislation encouraging EMS to assist animals, EMS personnel are not typically trained in the safe handling or medical treatment of animals. Interaction with veterinary patients can pose serious injury and infectious disease risks to untrained EMS personnel. Furthermore, relationships with veterinarians must be built and treatment and transport protocols must be developed for EMS agencies to appropriately care for these animals. This report serves as an initial framework from the veterinary perspective for EMS consideration regarding current legislation, safety concerns, transport protocols, and common life-saving treatments in the prehospital emergency care of animals. Increased collaboration between EMS personnel and veterinary professionals provides an opportunity to develop quality training programs for EMS and to improve disaster preparedness of the whole community.

The Prehospital Emergency Care System in Mexico City: A System's Performance Evaluation

2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Mauricio Pinet Peralta
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
System Design ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Emergency Care ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Prehospital Emergency Care ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Prehospital Emergency

AbstractIntroduction:Mexico City has one of the highest mortality rates in Mexico, with non-intentional injuries as a leading cause of death among persons 1–44 years of age. Emergency medical services (EMS) in Mexico can achieve high levels of efficiency by offering high quality medical care at a low cost through adequate system design.Objective:The objective of this study was to determine whether the prehospital EMS system in Mexico City meets the criteria standards established by the American Ambulance Association Guide for Contracting Emergency Medical Services (AAA Guide) for highly efficient EMS systems.Methods:This retrospective, descriptive study, evaluated the structure of Mexico City's EMS system and analyzed EMS response times, clinical capacity, economic efficiency, and customer satisfaction. These results were compared with the AAA guide, according to the social, economic, and political context in Mexico. This paper describes the healthcare system structure in Mexico, followed by a description of the basic structure of EMS in Mexico City, and of each tenet described in the AAA guide. The paper includes data obtained from official documents and databases of government agencies, and operative and administrative data from public and private EMS providers.Results:The quality of the data for response times (RT) were insufficient and widely varied among providers, with a minimum RT of 6.79 minutes (min) and a maximum RT of 61 min. Providers did not define RT clearly, and measured it with averages, which can hide potentially poor performance practices. Training institutions are not required to follow a standardized curriculum. Certifications are the responsibility of the individual training centers and have no government regulation. There was no evidence of active medical control involvement in direct patient care, and providers did not report that quality assurance programs were in place. There also are limited career advancement opportunities for EMS personnel. Small economies of scale may not allow providers to be economically efficient, unit hours are difficult to calculate, and few economic data are available.There is no evidence of customer satisfaction data.Conclusions:Emergency medical services in Mexico City did not meet the AAA requirements for high-quality, prehospital, emergency care. Coordination among EMS providers is difficult to achieve, due, in part, to the lack of: (1) an authoritative structure; (2) sound system design; and (3) appropriate legislation. The government, EMS providers, stakeholders, and community members should work together to build a high quality EMS system at the lowest possible cost.

scholarly journals Understanding quality systems in the South African prehospital emergency medical services: a multiple exploratory case study

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. e000946
Author(s):  
Ian Howard ◽  
Peter Cameron ◽  
Lee Wallis ◽  
Maaret Castrén ◽  
Veronica Lindström
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Emergency Care ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Prehospital Emergency Care ◽  
Quality Systems ◽  
Exploratory Case Study ◽  
Private Service ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Prehospital Emergency

IntroductionIn South Africa (SA), prehospital emergency care is delivered by emergency medical services (EMS) across the country. Within these services, quality systems are in their infancy, and issues regarding transparency, reliability and contextual relevance have been cited as common concerns, exacerbated by poor communication, and ineffective leadership. As a result, we undertook a study to assess the current state of quality systems in EMS in SA, so as to determine priorities for initial focus regarding their development.MethodsA multiple exploratory case study design was used that employed the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 18-point Quality Program Assessment Tool as both a formative assessment and semistructured interview guide using four provincial government EMS and one national private service.ResultsServices generally scored higher for structure and planning. Measurement and improvement were found to be more dependent on utilisation and perceived mandate. There was a relatively strong focus on clinical quality assessment within the private service, whereas in the provincial systems, measures were exclusively restricted to call times with little focus on clinical care. Staff engagement and programme evaluation were generally among the lowest scores. A multitude of contextual factors were identified that affected the effectiveness of quality systems, centred around leadership, vision and mission, and quality system infrastructure and capacity, guided by the need for comprehensive yet pragmatic strategic policies and standards.ConclusionUnderstanding and accounting for these factors will be key to ensuring both successful implementation and ongoing utilisation of healthcare quality systems in emergency care. The result will not only provide a more efficient and effective service, but also positively impact patient safety and quality of care of the services delivered.

scholarly journals The role of the emergency medical dispatch centre (EMDC) and prehospital emergency care safety: results from an incident report (IR) system

CJEM ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Mortaro ◽  
Diana Pascu ◽  
Tamara Zerman ◽  
Enrico Vallaperta ◽  
Alberto Schönsberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Care ◽  
Prehospital Care ◽  
Prehospital Setting ◽  
Prehospital Emergency Care ◽  
Incident Report ◽  
Emergency Medical Dispatch ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Dispatch Centre ◽  
Prehospital Emergency

AbstractIntroductionThe role of the emergency medical dispatch centre (EMDC) is essential to ensure coordinated and safe prehospital care. The aim of this study was to implement an incident report (IR) system in prehospital emergency care management with a view to detecting errors occurring in this setting and guiding the implementation of safety improvement initiatives.MethodsAn ad hoc IR form for the prehospital setting was developed and implemented within the EMDC of Verona. The form included six phases (from the emergency call to hospital admission) with the relevant list of potential error modes (30 items). This descriptive observational study considered the results from 268 consecutive days between February and November 2010.ResultsDuring the study period, 161 error modes were detected. The majority of these errors occurred in the resource allocation and timing phase (34.2%) and in the dispatch phase (31.0%). Most of the errors were due to human factors (77.6%), and almost half of them were classified as either moderate (27.9%) or severe (19.9%). These results guided the implementation of specific corrective actions, such as the adoption of a more efficient Medical Priority Dispatch System and the development of educational initiatives targeted at both EMDC staff and the population.ConclusionsDespite the intrinsic limits of IR methodology, results suggest how the implementation of an IR system dedicated to the emergency prehospital setting can act as a major driver for the development of a “learning organization” and improve both efficacy and safety of first aid care.

scholarly journals Bilateral Lobar Lung Transplantation after Smoke Inhalation Injury - A Case Report

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. S515
Author(s):  
E. Olsson ◽  
M. Silverborn ◽  
U. Smedh ◽  
G.C. Riise ◽  
J.M. Magnusson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Lung Transplantation ◽  
Inhalation Injury ◽  
Smoke Inhalation ◽  
Smoke Inhalation Injury

scholarly journals Which health-related reasons lead to prehospital emergency care and how does subjective emergency status connect to subsequent care?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Piedmont ◽  
Anna Katharina Reinhold ◽  
Jens-Oliver Bock ◽  
Enno Swart ◽  
Bernt-Peter Robra
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Emergency Care ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Insurance Companies ◽  
Prehospital Emergency Care ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Prehospital Emergency ◽  
Health Insurance Companies ◽  
Reported Data

Abstract Objectives/Background In many countries, the use of emergency medical services (EMS) increases steadily each year. At the same time, the percentage of life-threatening complaints decreases. To redesign the system, an assessment and consideration of the patients’ perspectives is helpful. Methods We conducted a paper-based survey of German EMS patients who had at least one case of prehospital emergency care in 2016. Four health insurance companies sent out the questionnaire to 1312 insured persons. We linked the self-reported data of 254 respondents to corresponding claims data provided by their health insurance companies. The analysis focuses a.) how strongly patients tend to call EMS for themselves and others given different health-related scenarios, b.) self-perceived health complaints in their own index case of prehospital emergency care and c.) subjective emergency status in combination with so-called “objective” characteristics of subsequent EMS and inpatient care. We report principal diagnoses of (1) respondents, (2) 57,240 EMS users who are not part of the survey and (3) all 20,063,689 inpatients in German hospitals. Diagnoses for group 1 and 2 only cover the inpatient stay that started on the day of the last EMS use in 2016. Results According to the survey, the threshold to call an ambulance is lower for someone else than for oneself. In 89% of all cases during their own EMS use, a third party called the ambulance. The most common, self-reported complaints were pain (38%), problems with heart and circulation (32%), and loss of consciousness (17%). The majority of respondents indicated that their EMS use was due to an emergency (89%). We could detect no or only weak associations between patients’ subjective urgency and different items for objective care. Conclusion Dispatchers can possibly optimize or reduce the disposition of EMS staff and vehicles if they spoke directly to the patients more often. Nonetheless, there is need for further research on how strongly the patients’ perceived urgency may affect the disposition, rapidness of the service and transport targets.

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