Behind the Wheel Charlotte NC

Last month, I sat in on an ambulance safety roundtable at an EMS conference.

The panel addressed questions about ambulance safety posed by both a moderator and members of the audience. While some of the debate focused on the ways in which the ambulance manufacturers can and should be trying to improve the safety of the vehicles they design and build, much of the discussion centered around the need for obtaining initial and current DMV records for those designated as emergency vehicle operators, as well as the absolute necessity for agencies to develop comprehensive safety programs for both managers and providers that address issues relating to emergency vehicle driver training. As one member of the panel stated: "How many people can an ineffective driver kill as compared to an ineffective medic?"

In recent years, EMS Magazine has addressed the issue of ambulance safety and ways in which agencies can improve this area of operations; however, we seem to have seen a recent increase in the number of ambulance crashes. With that in mind, we will focus on this topic again in the June issue and look at how to put together a vehicle safety program, invite commentary from manufacturers on how they are making their vehicles safer and the roadblocks they face in doing so, and look at the real costs of an ambulance accident. In order to make sure we address all the issues facing our readership, we invite you to go online (emsresponder.com) and complete a short survey about ambulance safety. Let us know what your agency is doing to improve driver training, or whether the higher-ups are ignoring the issue. Do you feel safe in the back of your rig when running lights and siren, or when a "bad apple" is at the wheel?

It's time for this industry to take a stand and improve the safety of both medics and patients when in the ambulance. E-mail comments to nancy.perry@cygnusb2b.com.