EMS Safety

Emergency medical services (EMS) can be a dangerous profession. EMS practitioners are 2 � times more likely to die on the job and 3 times more likely than the average worker to miss work as a result of injury. To combat this epidemic, NAEMT created the EMS Safety course to promote a culture of safety and to help reduce the number on-the-job fatalities and injuries.EMS Safety, Second Edition is the next step in the evolution of this critical continuing education course. The course manual has been transformed into an engaging resource that can continue to be consulted after the course to assist in crafting proactive safety policies and procedures.Course topics include:’ Applying crew resource management in EMS’ Utilizing situational awareness and defensive driving for safe emergency vehicle operations’ Employing multi-agency preplanning, vehicle and practitioner visibility techniques, and defensive staging practices at roadside incidents’ Utilizing lift assist teams, lifting and moving equipment, and behavioral controls to protect both EMS practitioners and patients from injury’ Employing situational awareness to continually assess for the potential of violence on the scene and verbal and physical techniques to de-escalate potential threats’ Practicing infection and contagion control to protect both EMS practitioners and patients from emerging threats’ Strengthening resiliency skills to help EMS practitioners cope with daily and critical incident stress’ Ensuring personal readiness for the daily challenges and hazards of working in the field through optimal personal health