Responsibilities , duties and problems of the EMS!!!

 IN the previous posts we talked about the history, communication, and working of the patients through the EMS here we will know-

How are the patients transferred from one hospital to another?

How are the records of a patient kept?

1.     Patient Transfer- Patients are often transferred from one medical facility to another for a higher level of care.

 The safe transfer is an important concept. Many problems can be avoided if the transferring and receiving facilities develop transfer agreements in advance.

The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act passed in 1986, sets forth rules that hospitals participating in the Medicare program must adhere to when considering a patient transfer.

Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, all patients must receive a medical screening exam and be stabilized before a transfer is considered. There must also be explicit acceptance of the transfer by the receiving hospital.

2.      Coordinated patient record-keeping- The initial treatment of the patients is often received by the EMS and thus the chart or report prepared by them is important.

These days they use advanced technology to keep up the charts which is easy to download and transfer between the EMS and the emergency department and even between hospitals.

The electronic charts can often be downloaded by a secure internet website.

In all these situations the patient reports are kept private and access is given only to the authorized people.

 

3.     Public Information and Education-EMS has an added responsibility to teach people about the emergency care system.

This includes teaching them when to use the emergency helpline number, not panicking at minor wounds, and how to manage them. The goal is to teach them to use emergency only when it is necessary and to reduce the false alarm. Along with giving them the knowledge that the EMS is there when they need it.

The EMS also educates people on how to perform CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), first aid and basic preparing for a disaster like hurricanes or thunderstorms etc.

Aren’t they very cool people who play a major role to ensure we are safe at all costs??? We should be proud of them and yes do respect them!!!

The reason they teach us these basic life-saving methods is for our own protection and I think it is very good that we learn it.

Because it may happen that due to various reason help may arrive late in like days. In that case, people who know basic life support methods can remain safe till help arrives

Am I right???

4.     Disaster Plan-The EMS system is an integral part of disaster preparedness and should be involved in planning along with other agencies and the medical community.

 Because EMS is often not considered to fall into the category of public safety, emergency preparedness funding for EMS has fallen behind that of police and fire services.

Despite this, EMS agencies must maintain a high level of disaster preparedness.

This involves having written policies and procedures, stockpiling supplies that may be rapidly depleted in multi-casualty situations, and participating in regional disaster drills with other emergency response agencies and hospitals.

5.     Review and evaluation-Our EMS people face a lot of problems that often contain

low funding and low resources. They do such great work in protecting our society yet there are many difficulties faced by them.

EMS research is invaluable to evaluate prehospital interventions and develop new ones. It is not valid to assume that what works in the hospital will also work in the prehospital setting.

 Issues such as limited funding, barriers to obtaining patient outcomes, and obtaining informed consent from critically ill patients, or waivers of consent, can make prehospital research daunting.

 However, these barriers must be overcome if patients are to receive quality care.

 

Conclusion

We have come a long way in the field of Emergency Medical Services, there have been many enhancements and many positive ones.

Since EMS is dependent on both healthcare and technology which itself is changing and getting better day by day then we can hope to see a lot better changes in the future.

Imagine more mishappenings can be prevented and a lot more precious lives getting saved!!!

 

Do comment your views and stay happy safe and healthy!!!!