#SafeInTheBack – your safety is important

The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) are leading a #SafeInTheBack campaign on behalf of all UK ambulance services to highlight the serious implications of not wearing seatbelts or harnessing patients properly in the back of ambulance vehicles.

EEAST have had several incidents where staff have been injured due to being unrestrained in the rear of the vehicle.

The photos below, shared with permissions from the crew involved, demonstrate the forces that you can be subjected to when unrestrained and involved in an RTC.

On this occasion, the RTC occurred at normal road speed. The attendant was unrestrained and collided with the ePCR cabinet, thankfully they were not seriously injured.

 

    

 

The attendant involved would like to share the following message on their experience:

"I strongly urge any attending clinician to wear your seatbelt whilst in the back of the vehicle unless it is for critical / lifesaving intervention. Accidents happen at a blink of an eye, and our reactions are delayed whilst in the rear of the vehicle due to having reduced awareness of our surroundings. Due to how quickly the accident happened, I was unaware I had collided with the cabinet until the vehicle was stationary. Luckily, I was not seriously injured however I was incredibly lucky, and my injuries could have been much worse. Your safety is paramount, and I hope others can learn from my experience."

 

Please remember to only remove your seatbelt to undertake a time critical / lifesaving intervention, where there is no time to stop the ambulance first. If you do need to do so, advise the driver that you have taken your seatbelt off and ask them to pull over as soon as it is safe to do so.

Your safety is important.

Published 22nd August 2023