Today, as EMS Appreciation Week events focus on EMS Safety, TJEMS shares:
EMS is an inherently risky job. On any given shift, EMS practitioners may be called to respond to emotionally charged, potentially life-threatening situations. These may be quickly followed by a routine patient transport, with little time for recovery. Research shows that rapidly cycling between high and low intensity, routine work can lead to exhaustion and errors – whether it’s forgetting to be careful when lifting a gurney or making a small driving error that leads to serious consequences.
Even when fully alert, long hours spent driving on roadways, in all kinds of weather and traffic conditions, at all hours of the day and night, exposes EMS practitioners to the potential of motor vehicle collisions. EMTs and paramedics have also been injured while responding to accidents by the side of the road.
EMS practitioners are also potentially put into harms way every time they respond to a call that involves interacting with members of the public who are highly stressed, under the influence of drugs and alcohol or in a mental health crisis. Surveys of EMS practitioners have found that assaults, either intentional or unwitting, are all too common.
Mitigating fatigue, reducing the risk of collisions, promoting scene safety and preventing violence against practitioners are among the major issues that an EMS safety program can and should address. But there are many others, including facility safety and security, infection control, substance abuse prevention and all aspects of personal safety, from lift injury prevention to the mental health of practitioners. (NAEMT (2017) Guide for Developing an EMS Agency Safety Program)
Ask about your agency’s safety program. If your agency doesn’t have a safety program, request your leadership to contact TJEMS to assist in starting the process (or update it post-COVID).
Who Is Your Buddy? Remember to take care of yourself! Do you have a crew mate you can talk to? Can others count on you when they need to talk? Mental Health First Aid provides a 5-step action plan, ALGEE, for you to help someone who may be in crisis. See (and share) the following