International Institute for Organizational Excellence

Design for Safety - Building a Safer Ambulance

Each year an average of fifty (50) EMS providers are killed
as a result of vehicular accidents while operating
or working in an ambulance.

According to Dr. Don Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, "Each system is perfectly designed to achieve exactly the results it gets." While this statement is generally used to describe clinical outcomes the principle is just as relevent when we discuss the design of the medical transport systems we operate each and every day.

Dr. Nadine Levick of Objective Safety has indicated that there are four primary elements for improving safety in the operation of emergency vehicles. These include...

1. Vehicle operations training.

2. Monitoring and real-time feedback for vehicle operators.

3. Use of appropriate, approved personal protective equipment by all those driving and working in emergency vehicles.

4. Designing emergency vehicles to enhance safety for all occupants.

Design for Patient Safety: Future Ambulances is based on the results of a design focussed research collaboration between the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA); the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art, London; the Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety Research Unit at the University of Loughborough; and the Ambulance Service Association (ASA). The year-long study was initiated to investigate how the safety of patients and ambulance staff could be improved through better design of vehicles and equipment.¹

¹Coleman, R. et al. (Eds.) (2007) Design for patient safety: future ambulances. National Patient Safety Agency. Retrieved from http://www.npsa.nhs.uk/patientsafety/improvingpatientsafety/design/future-ambulances/

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Ambulance Crash Log	Design for Safety - Building a Safer Ambulance Each year an average of fifty (50) EMS providers are killed as a result of vehicular accidents while operating or working in an ambulance. According to Dr. Don Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, "Each system is perfectly designed to achieve exactly the results it gets." While this statement is generally used to describe clinical outcomes the principle is just as relevent when we discuss the design of the medical transport systems we operate each and every day. Dr. Nadine Levick of Objective Safety has indicated that there are four primary elements for improving safety in the operation of emergency vehicles. These include... 1. Vehicle operations training. 2. Monitoring and real-time feedback for vehicle operators. 3. Use of appropriate, approved personal protective equipment by all those driving and working in emergency vehicles. 4. Designing emergency vehicles to enhance safety for all occupants. Design for Patient Safety: Future Ambulances is based on the results of a design focussed research collaboration between the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA); the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art, London; the Healthcare Ergonomics and Patient Safety Research Unit at the University of Loughborough; and the Ambulance Service Association (ASA). The year-long study was initiated to investigate how the safety of patients and ambulance staff could be improved through better design of vehicles and equipment.¹ ¹Coleman, R. et al. (Eds.) (2007) Design for patient safety: future ambulances. National Patient Safety Agency. Retrieved from http://www.npsa.nhs.uk/patientsafety/improvingpatientsafety/design/future-ambulances/
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