Beyond EMT 2 Minimum Standards

Abstract

Introduction:

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) minimum standards are used to verify Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) internationally. The National Critical Care and Trauma Response Center (NCCTRC) was one of the first few EMT 2 verified teams globally.

Aim:

The NCCTRC aims to innovate and provide leadership in the provision of best practice clinical care in the EMT 2 setting in disaster-affected countries.

Methods:

The NCCTRC developed a clinical governance framework and committee with a view of improving practice in the deployed environment. A gap analysis against the Australian National Standards was done and a decision was made to proceed with accreditation against the ACHS EQUIP 6 framework.

Results:

The process of accreditation required a self-assessment that identified gaps in our guidelines and care processes thereby leading to innovative projects to meet the criterion in a sustainable way for the deployed field hospital environment. The NCCTRC has developed adapted clinical tools to manage pressure injury, falls risk, handover, hand hygiene, audits, and consumer feedback.

Discussion:

The deployed field hospital environment can meet national accreditation standards for clinical care. The WHO minimum standards were introduced in 2013 and serve as a marker of the minimum requirements in the field. The challenge is to do better than the minimum. This study demonstrated that it is possible to adapt hospital accreditation standards to the field environment and provide a higher, safer quality of care to affected populations. EMT teams should maintain their clinical care standards from their home environment wherever possible in the field hospital environment. Striving to provide the best and safest care is the duty of care for vulnerable populations.