EMS and Interfacility Transport
Accreditation Canada's sector- and service-based standards help organizations assess quality at the point of service delivery and embed a culture of quality, safety, and patient- and family-centred care into all aspects of service delivery. The standards are based on five key elements of service excellence: clinical leadership, people, process, information, and performance.
Accreditation is one of the most effective ways for organizations to regularly and consistently examine and improve the quality of their services. The standards provide a tool for organizations to embed accreditation and quality improvement activities into their daily operations with the primary focus being on including the patient and family as true partners in service delivery.
Patient- and family-centred care is an approach that guides all aspects of planning, delivering and evaluating services. The focus is always on creating and nurturing mutually beneficial partnerships among the organization’s team members and the patients and families they serve. Providing patient- and family-centred care means working collaboratively with patients and their families to provide care that is respectful, compassionate, culturally safe, and competent, while being responsive to their needs, values, cultural backgrounds and beliefs, and preferences (adapted from the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care (IPFCC) 2008 and Saskatchewan Ministry of Health 2011).
Accreditation Canada has adopted the four values that are fundamental to this approach, as outlined by the IPFCC, and integrated into the service excellence standards. The values are:
- Dignity and respect: Listening to and honouring patient and family perspectives and choices. Patient and family knowledge, values, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds are incorporated into the planning and delivery of care.
- Information sharing: Communicating and sharing complete and unbiased information with patients and families in ways that are affirming and useful. Patients and families receive timely, complete, and accurate information in order to effectively participate in care and decision-making.
- Partnership and participation: Encouraging and supporting patients and families to participate in care and decision making to the extent that they wish.
- Collaboration: Collaborating with patients and families in policy and program development, implementation and evaluation, facility design, professional education, and delivery of care.
The Accreditation Canada EMS and Interfacility Transport Standards are for air and ground ambulance services (public and private), interfacility transport (emergent and non-emergent), and communication services (emergency call taking and ambulance dispatch). They cover pre-hospital emergency health services, patient transport, transport planning, and community paramedicine. The standards address the care and transport of adults, children, and infants.
The EMS and Interfacility Transport Standards contain the following sections:
- Investing in quality services
- Having the right people Preventing infection and minimizing exposure to hazards
- Safely operating medical transport vehicles and equipment
- Providing safe and effective services
- Maintaining accessible and efficient information systems
- Monitoring quality and achieving positive outcomes