Baltimore – Within EMS, very little data exists about many aspects of the profession. In an effort to address this shortfall, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), in collaboration with the Center for Leadership, Innovation and Research in EMS, has developed an anonymous system for EMS practitioners to report near-miss and line of duty death (LODD) incidents by answering a series of questions in an online format. The system was introduced this afternoon by NAEMT President Connie A. Meyer and Gary Wingrove of the Center for Leadership, Innovation and Research in EMS at EMS Today, the JEMS conference and exposition in Baltimore.
The purpose of the system is to collect and aggregate data that will then be analyzed and used in the development of EMS policies and procedures, and for use in training, educating and preventing similar events from occurring in the future. No individual responses will be shared or transmitted to other parties. These Near Miss and LODD Online Reporting Tools are now live at www.emseventreport.org. These tools, along with an already existing tool to report patient safety events, form the EMS Voluntary Event Notification Tool (E.V.E.N.T.).
The aggregated data collected will be provided to state EMS offices and the appropriate federal agencies with jurisdiction over EMS on a quarterly and annual basis. Timely aggregated reports submitted through a variety of venues will make E.V.E.N.T. a living mechanism for change. It is envisioned that one of the primary end users of this data will be those responsible for the development of EMS policies at the state and federal levels.
