Travelling Safely in Ambulance Vehicles

A huge thank you to our operational colleagues who have kept our patients safe during these unprecedented times. We have seen some remarkable achievements this year. Hopefully, you will have either had the opportunity to take part in, or at least heard about, our roundtable process where we review incidents.

This process allows everyone to have a fair say about an incident, with the primary aim of understanding exactly what happened and learning lessons to prevent the event from happening again. You can watch a video about the roundtable process here, where some of our colleagues have described their experiences. You will be fully supported by the Trust if you are involved in any form of unintended incident.

However, a cause for concern is that seatbelts are not always worn appropriately. It is a legal requirement for all staff to wear seatbelts in the front and rear of the ambulance except when performing an immediately life-saving intervention.

It is also the driver’s legal responsibility to ensure that the patient is adequately secured on the trolley using a four-point harness or by using a seatbelt whilst seated. Failure to do this can lead to catastrophic staff or patient harm and may also lead to driver prosecution. We don’t want this to happen to you.

The EEAST safety team and Unison have developed a training package so that we are all aware of our responsibilities when in a moving vehicle. You can access the training here. You will be asked to confirm that you have understood the training at the end of the presentation.

Please take the time to fully digest the training. You, our patients and our careers are at risk if we do not follow the simple instructions. Please do travel safely at all times.

Please send any questions relating to this training to patientsafety@eastamb.nhs.uk. 

Published 19th March 2021