Category Archives: Aeromedical retrieval

Patient safety in helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS): The safety management system

Originally posted on Auckland HEMS:
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”. Albert Einstein. You could be right in thinking that “safety crusaders” are the glass half empty type, right? Those that believe “what can go wrong, will go wrong” (Murphys Law). I’m not a pessimist, but I do believe…

A Military Aviation model for Patient Safety?

Originally posted on Auckland HEMS:
In the September 2013 edition of the British Medical Journal, Robyn Clay-Williams has published a thought provoking article on the modelling of clinical risk management on civil aviation practices, and questions whether a military aviation model may be more prudent when assessing and managing risk in the healthcare environment.  The…

Usability testing of new Auckland HEMS packs

Originally posted on Auckland HEMS:
By Dr Chris Denny, Auckland HEMS Medical Director New packs for Auckland HEMS In the early days of Auckland HEMS, we loosely ‘bolted on’ our equipment to the existing paramedic gear. As time passed and we forged a strong collaborative relationship with our paramedic colleagues, the performance gap in our…