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This Week in EMS: A Recap for March 17 - 23, 2007
The top feature on EMSResponder.com this week outlined a new effort to keep EMS workers safer.
Responders always have stories about mistakes or problems encountered on the job, which could have resulted in injury or death. Now, responders are being urged to report these incidents to a Near-Miss database so the entire EMS community can learn from them.
As EMSResponder.com writer Lisa Snowden reports, the website FirefighterNearMiss.com has already been collecting, analyzing and sharing these reports for more than a year. Although the site is backed by the International Association of Fire Chiefs and was initially geared toward the fire service, the IAFC is reaching out to all facets of the EMS industry as well, and plans to change to face of the website to reflect that.
Project Manager John Tippet says near-miss events in firefighting and emergency rescue share many of the same contributing factors: ineffective communications, loss of situational awareness and lapses in decision-making.
Since the site's inception, many EMS personnel have already been involved; EMS incidents comprise about a third of the reports on the site. These include reports of violent patient rampages, sleep-taxed workers who fall asleep at the wheel, and medics left to work alone on a major highway.
The identity of the person submitting the report is kept anonymous, although responders may choose to share this information with the site's team of reviewers so they can be contacted to discuss details.
Read the full article to learn more about the system and how it works: Near-Miss Website Shares EMS Incidents.
The top industry news this week spotlights concern over the widespread denial of federal line-of-duty death benefits.
More than three years after the Hometown Heroes Act of 2003 was signed into law, granting federal benefits to families of firefighters, police officers and EMTs who die of heart attacks and strokes on the job, not a dollar has been paid, reports MSNBC. The U.S. Justice Department has denied 34 claims and has yet to act on about 200 others.
Some rescuers contend that the Justice Department has turned the intent of the law on its head, seeking any reason to deny the claims instead of giving them positive presumption. However, a department spokeswoman said the situation is a result of the complexity of the cases, not a disagreement with the intent of the law.
Of the 34 Hometown Heroes claims denied so far, about 11 were filed by the families of law enforcement officers, and most of the remaining denied claims were filed by families of firefighters. The Justice Department didn't say whether any claims by families of emergency medical workers have been denied.
The full report by MSNBC details case examples and the reason for most of the claim denials -- failure to prove that the responder died as a result of "nonroutine strenuous activity." Click here to read the full article: Responders Denied On-Duty Death Benefits
Reminder:
Nominations continue to be accepted for EMS Magazine's 22nd Annual EMT/Paramedic of the Year Award, sponsored by Braun Industries and ZOLL Medical Corporation. Nominations must be received by July 2, 2007.
For full contest rules and instructions please visit www.emsresponder.com/paramedic.
Other top headlines on EMSResponder.com this week:
