EMS Best Practices

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EMS Best Practices

• A vibrant approach for
• improving out-of-hospital care.

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Learner Objectives

• Understand what a Best Practice is
• Understand why Best Practice is necessary
• Describe what a Best Practice Practitioner is
• Understand what a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
  is
• Understand and apply an EMS Best Practice to a
  Key Performance area of care
• Understand performance parameters and goal
  actualization
• Understand how the industry application of EMS
  Best Practice can universally drive profound
  improvement in patient outcome

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What is Best Practice?

• Best Practices are strategies and tactics
  employed by highly effective organizations that
  change working conditions, communications, and
  organizational effectiveness for the ultimate
  goal of achieving improvement.
• Best Clinical Practices are simply superior
  methods or innovative practices that contribute
  to improved performance of a process involving
  patient care.

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Centuries old, however still in fashion!

• Big Chief Thinks-Outside-The-Tent canvassed his
  Best Hunters after his tribe continued to
  hunger exhibit low morale
• He compared arrow making
• techniques between his hunters
• He discovered that arrow
• construction was critical for
• accuracy, speed, range and
• consistency

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The arrow construction process
The Big Chief requested that his Best Hunter,
Eating-Good, explain his arrow construction
process to his fellow hunters so the entire tribe
would be as proficient. They learned that he
always made his arrows using the feathers from
the right wing of a turkey.
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Communicating and Implementing the Best
Practice
The Tribal Best Practice of building arrows
from the feathers of one wing of a turkey was
communicated to all the tribes and warriors. It
was soon discovered by another warrior that right
handed warriors should use only left wing
feathers and left handed warriors should use only
right wing feathers for the best results. This
practice led to better tribal nourishment,
increased morale and a great deal of confidence
in their own protection, so the story goes!
Truly, you never mix left and right feathers on
the same arrow.
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Today, how do we identify EMS Best Practices?

• Strategic use of information to identify our Top
  Performers in our Key Performance areas of
  care. Once these are identified, the use of
  interviews, surveys, and other mechanisms of
  "primary" research can be applied.
• Beyond the primary mechanisms, we would seek
  secondary research that may include -- books,
  magazines, libraries, the Internet, and other
  public domain resources that have this
  information.
• Unfortunately, cross-functional relationships
  with other EMS systems are not in place, leaving
  little to no information available within our
  industry. Thus, the primary mode of research
  is our only applicable means of learning.

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What is an EMS Best Practice Practitioner (BP2)

• A motivated person with a desire to achieve
  excellence in patient care self directed.
• A person armed with knowledge and a desire to
  immediately apply it in their daily work.
• A person looking for creative ways to improve a
  process. Once identified, willing to share with
  the tribe.
• Continuously engage in self-study willing to
  compare themselves with other leaders in their
  field so they can identify, adapt, and apply
  significantly better practices.
• Willing to accept change (Paradigm shift).
  Change that should transcend across an
  organization reaching into all levels of practice
  regardless of status.

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What are the Benefits of applying EMS Best
Practices?

• Profound improvement in patient care.
• Internal stimulation and innovative practices.
• Becoming the Best. Once identified and
  implemented within the organization, Best
  Practices will help place the EMS systems
  practitioners as the most admired and the keenest
  healthcare practitioners within the industry.

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Key Performance Indicators (KPI)

• Quick Assessment and rapid transport of the
  severely injured
• Treatment of the Injured Brain (TBI)
• Airway management
• Proper drug dosing
• Pain management
• Each of these categories of performance can
  be measured they are considered a direct
  contributor to improved patient outcome. They
  will drive customer satisfaction,
  quality/delivery-speed of our care including the
  utilization of our assets. Each of these KPI
  have their own specific process(es)
  accompanying Best Practice(s).

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As educators and preceptors, you must have a
commitment to

• Build our camp fires for smoke signaling the
  warriors.
• Remain a key ingredient in changing our local
  Paradigm!
• Stay a high performer, knowledgeable, motivated
  and a fine example of being a Best Practice
  Practitioner.
• Continue to bring enriched experiences
  (stimulation) to the classroom linking human
  dimensions of improvement.
• Continue to carry and influence our EMS Best
  Practices share the knowledge, processes and our
  success stories.

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What we do and how we do it will make a profound
difference, ultimately, leaving a lasting
impression!
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In Closing

• When we understand ourselves and how the "best"
  do what they do, we will adapt it into our own
  organization. This will be our key to achieving
  true success. We should be encouraging creative
  thinking, "getting out of the box" and sharing
  this information for competitive comparisons.
• Pinellas County should be leading and
  accelerating the spread of better practices
  within our industry. We can promote the emergence
  and evolution of a "learning culture" throughout
  the industry making our clinicians and our
  organization the most admired.