Current definitions of patient safety
Patient Safety: The pursuit of the reduction and
mitigation of unsafe acts within the health care system, as well as the
use of best practices shown to lead to optimal patient outcomes
(Canadian Patient Safety Institute).
Patient Safety: The freedom from accidental injury;
ensuring patient safety involves the establishment of operational
systems and processes that minimize the likelihood of errors and
maximizes the likelihood of intercepting them (Institute of Medicine).
How are we doing so far?
Medavie EMS strives to provide
patient care that is accessible, reliable, competent and accountable.
This goal would only be achievable within an organization that supports
patient care with a strong patient safety framework. As an organization
Medavie EMS interacts with and transports more than 250,000 patients per
year and travels more than 20,000,000 kilometers per year under ever
changing conditions and environments. The risk of an adverse event or a
near miss is ever present.
The following represents our efforts to date in developing a culture of patient safety within our organization:
- We have identified Patient Safety as a strategic goal
- We have delegated focused resources to the task
- We have edited all position
descriptions in the organization to reflect the role and expectations of
everyone in the organization in patient safety
- We continue to evaluate and identify of high risk activities
- We have conducted organization wide staff surveys to obtain opinions from our staff
- We are considering
implementing an organization wide electronic adverse event & near
miss reporting system (work in progress)
- We are currently developing an organization wide patient safety plan (currently in development)
- Ongoing communication of key patient safety messages
- Patient safety issues and competencies integrated within staff continuing education activities
Within
the EMS industry issues surrounding patient safety fall within a number
of broad areas. Medavie EMS is committed to ongoing monitoring and
evaluation of these elements to evaluate processes, and to ensure early
identification and mitigation of risk.
- Culture
- Communication
- Infection Control
- Work Life/Workforce
- Medication management and administration
- Medical procedures and interventions
- Transport / Patient Handling
- Protection on scene
- Patient care (protocol compliance, disclosure)
- Transfer of patient care
- System issues
- Vehicle and medical equipment maintenance