Patient Outcome Using Medical Protocol to Limit “Lights and Siren” Transport

Kupas, Douglas F.; Dula, David J.; Pino, Bruno J.

doi:10.1017/s1049023x00041443

Cited by 35 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Similarly it has been suggested that the use of a medical protocol system would permit a reduction in the use of lights and sirens without adversely effecting the transport of patients to hospital. 9 However, triaging the critically ill or injured on receipt of the emergency call by despatch protocol systems does not gain universal approval, as it is not considered sensitive enough at present. 3 25 Emergency ambulance calls are generally responded to with the use of lights and sirens, and our findings suggest that in most cases this was the practice.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7 8 Similarly flashing blue lights and the sound of sirens, which are frequently used to alert the public to the need for free passage of the approaching emergency vehicle, may become intimidating in certain circumstances. [7][8][9] It has been estimated that up to 12 000 accidents involving ambulances using lights and sirens occur annually in the United States and Canada. Additionally adverse effects such as inconvenience, stress, and effects to third parties have also been identified.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Emergency ambulances on the public highway linked with inconvenience and potential danger to road users

Saunders¹

2003

Emergency Medicine Journal

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Objectives: The main aim was to survey interactions between the public highway users and emergency ambulances using lights and sirens. The objectives were to identify negative and positive experiences, and to assess the frequency and consequences of these events. Methods: Because of a poor response from a random postal pilot, a quota sample of 200 was adopted with a response of 65%. This provided data on demographics, details of previous interactions, and possible third party effects. Participant perception of psychological stress in negative interactions was also recorded. Possible links between the recorded interactions were assessed using the χ 2 tests of association. Results: The passage of an emergency ambulance using lights and sirens caused the public to move from their chosen position in most cases (61%). Horns or sirens were used frequently (86%), but they were not always applied in unison with the warning lights. A significant association was found between the satisfactory handling of events by the ambulance crews and the use of audible warning devices (p<0.001). Twenty per cent of avoidance manoeuvres necessitated reversing, which was associated with a third party affect (p<0.005). Roughly one third of the participants found interactions stressful and felt that the events could have been avoided. Most public road users (91%) believed that they acted in a controlled manner. Conclusions: The findings suggest that most participants had interacted with the emergency ambulances in a positive manner, while a smaller but significant fraction of the public road users found the interactions difficult to handle. A third party effect was identified in avoidance manoeuvres. Further longitudal research with random sampling is recommended.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Emergency ambulances on the public highway linked with inconvenience and potential danger to road users

Saunders¹

2003

Emergency Medicine Journal

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“…There were no adverse patient outcomes associated with transport without warning devices. 6 The results of these studies suggest that vehicle warning devices to circumvent traffic regulations during emergency transport may slightly increase the overall collision rate but dramatically increase the rate of injuries. They result in time savings of a few minutes, at best.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

P Ediatric C Ritical C Are T Ransport —T He S Afety of the J Ourney : A F Ive-Year R Eview of v Ehicular C Ollisions I Nvolving P Ediatric and N Eonatal T Ransport T Eams

King

Woodward

2002

Prehospital Emergency Care

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“…[114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121] Other methods for improving patient outcomes exist independent of the speed at which an ambulance travels. In a patient experiencing an acute heart attack, early activation of a cardiac catheterization laboratory using radio communication would overshadow any time savings of a lights-and-siren transport.…”

Section: Social Environment Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

EMS Provider and Patient Safety during Response and Transport: Proceedings of an Ambulance Safety Conference

Brice

Studnek

Bigham

et al. 2012

Prehospital Emergency Care

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The out-of-hospital setting is unique to health care and presents many challenges to providing safe, high-quality medical care in emergency situations. The challenges of the prehospital environment require thoughtful design of systems and processes of care. The unique challenges of ambulance safety may be met by analyzing systems and incorporating process improvements. The purposes of this paper are to 1) outline the nature of this problem, 2) introduce a framework for this discussion, 3) provide expert opinion from a two-day ambulance safety conference, and 4) propose a plan of action to address the safety issues identified in the literature and expert opinion at the conference. Utilizing the Haddon Matrix as a framework, we present the safety issues and proposed solutions for factors contributing to an injury event in the emergency medical services (EMS) transport environment: host, agent, physical environment, and social environment. Host refers to the person or persons at risk, in this case, the EMS personnel or the patient. The agent of injury refers to the energy exerted during the course of an injury, and may be modified to include unrestrained equipment that contributes to the injury. The physical environment refers to the characteristics of the setting in which the injury takes place, such as the roadway or the physical design of the ambulance. Finally, the social environment refers to the social, legal, and cultural norms and practices in the society, such as peer pressure and a culture that discourages the use of safety equipment.

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Patient Outcome Using Medical Protocol to Limit “Lights and Siren” Transport

Cited by 35 publications

References 3 publications

Emergency ambulances on the public highway linked with inconvenience and potential danger to road users

Emergency ambulances on the public highway linked with inconvenience and potential danger to road users

P Ediatric C Ritical C Are T Ransport —T He S Afety of the J Ourney : A F Ive-Year R Eview of v Ehicular C Ollisions I Nvolving P Ediatric and N Eonatal T Ransport T Eams

EMS Provider and Patient Safety during Response and Transport: Proceedings of an Ambulance Safety Conference

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