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NAAMTA Global Hoist Medical Transport Standard [Amy Arndt]
March 31, 2022 12:19PM

Hoist Medical Transport Accreditation March 2022, we rolled out our new Hoisting accreditation standards at HAI Heli-Expo and wanted to share with you one of our medical standards ...
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Clinical Operations Forum
[Archives: October 2012]
Tuesday October 23, 2012 at 2:00PM

Several months ago I joined the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Section on Transport Medicine. Being a part of a national organization that is immersed and driven by research and evidence-based practice has proven to be a paradoxical experience.

I recently attended the AAP national conference in New Orleans and came away with more questions than I had before I attended (I guess that’s good). Like most of the health care professionals there, I found myself constantly asking the question, “Does this apply to my situation? In deed, does this apply to the institutional process we call ‘medical transport accreditation’?”

Ours is a profession that is instinctually motivated by “best practice.” As such, I found myself asking one question: Are there any “benchmark best practice standards” for the accreditation process of medical transport programs?

As part of the conference, we took part in a consensus project to determine some benchmark metrics for neonatal and pediatric transports. The Academy’s Section on Transport Medicine will be submitting a consensus statement following further evaluation and analysis of the data from the conference.

Throughout the conference, reference was made to quality management (a hallmark of NAAMTA’s ISO processes). Focus was repeatedly brought to bear on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) six improvement domains for health care as outlined in their 2001 report Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. This has become a rubric by which health care should be analyzed and areas of improvement identified. They aim at:

            Safety: Interventions should be aimed at avoiding injuries to patients from the care that is intended to help them.

            Effectiveness: Institutes should provide services based on scientific knowledge to all who benefit, and refrain from unbeneficial services.

            Patient-centered: All care should be respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, and ensure that patient values guide all clinical decisions.

            Timeliness: Health care services should reduce waits and harmful delays for both those who receive and those who give care.

            Efficiency: Institutes should avoid waste, including waste of equipment, supplies, ideas, and energy.

            Equitable: Health services should provide care that does not vary in quality because of personal characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, geographic location, and socioeconomic status.

The consensus among all who presented at the conference and all who attended is clear—a health care system that achieves improvements in these six areas would be better at meeting patient needs. I would refer all providers of health care to a careful consideration of the entire report.

So after asking all these questions, I ask two questions:

Q:  “How does this all apply to medical transport programs and the services they provide?

A: These improvement domains of patient health care provide a framework by which transport programs can apply their own internal quality improvement assessment processes as well as the services of NAAMTA that help programs rise to the high standards of safe and quality patient care in the transport setting. This is NAAMTA’s mission.

Q: Can this same assessment rubric be applied to the very accreditation organizations that evaluate medical transport programs?

A: This a resounding “Yes.” Any external accreditation organization that seeks to provide an assessment and statement of a medical transport program’s safety and quality of patient care should itself be held to the same transparent assessment and quality improvement evaluation process. I am proud to say that NAAMTA’s ISO 9001:2008 certification provides the “evidence” upon which our organization is based. This evidence-based standard supports our commitment to providing unbiased equity to each transport program we serve. Our alliance provides the platform for consensus of “best practice.”

Upon returning home from this outstanding conference, I will be eager to place the medical standards and auditing processes of NAAMTA under the rubric “microscope” of the IOM’s Six Domains of Improved Patient Care. In an industry where safety and quality of patient care is the very essence of our mission and scope of care, we share this same commitment to all our members, both current and future.

So I repeat my last question—“Are there any “benchmark best practice standards” for the accreditation process of medical transport programs? The answer is NAAMTA.

Posted by Nancy Purcell

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Saturday October 6, 2012 at 7:37PM

I wanted to pass on this notice of opportunity being offered in the Denver, Colorado area (what a gorgeous place!).  The Aurora Community College has posted notice of it's next upcoming CCEMT-P course starting mid October.

The anticipated start date is Tuesday October 16th.
The anticipated end date is December 20th.

The final exam (CCEMT-P) will be administered by UMBC.
There will be a scheduled review between the initial final exam, and the anticipated re-test (It's not as easy as it looks, and requires more than attendance to pass) date(s).
Classes will be held at CCA's Lowry Campus, the Center for Simulation, from Noon to 9 (12:00 to 21:00) every Tuesday and Thursday, from start to finish.
This schedule is designed to allow for Paramedics to get off duty, grab some Starbucks and be able to make it to class on time.
Unfortunately we can't have late calls or shift changes that result in walking in late. UMBC attendance policies are exceptionally rigid.
Getting out by 21:00 will get you back where ever you need to be, or most of a good nights' sleep for the next shift.
It might require some shift trades or an supportive agency, but it does leave five  24's every week for paying bills.
Anyone wishing to attend the full course for certification must be able to attend 100%. UMBC does not allow for late, absent or make ups.
They also do not allow recording of any kind. This takes away the option of podcast, webinar and DVD's.
Having a Tutor for missed sessions is not practical, as we have only 4 Instructors, and not very affordable (paying for 8 hours of their time out of your own pocket).

This program is also open to RN's. RT's and PA's.

They will be awarded CCEMT-P, with certification paperwork that reads Critical Care Emergency Medical Transport PROGRAM.
This is NOT an RN to Paramedic transition course.
Any RN's seeking employment in Critical Care Transport, the CCEMT-P credential, and/or the preparation for CFRN are encouraged to enroll.

If you are currently certified as a CCEMT-P and wish to attend for CE's, you may obtain 36 hours toward CCEMT-P re-certification by attending any session. We welcome active participation from experienced providers.
Recently, UMBC published notice that attending CCEMT-P will act as a transition course to facilitate the current EMT-Paramedic to "Paramedic" National Standard.
While we're aware that Colorado already meets or exceeds that, and with most of us locally already Nationally Registered Paramedics, this shouldn't be an issue, but there may be potential students from out of state needing that course as well.
Current BLS, ACLS, PALS, ITLS or PHTLS, PEPP, NRP and ATLS are strongly encouraged.
Having those credentials assumes both the knowledge or understanding of, and owning reference material for course participation.
Most of the CCEMT-P material cites these courses, and therefore that information should not be new to the student, it's what we'll build upon.
The number of, and time in service for those credentials should be strongly considered, as well as several years of active transport, not just 911 response.
The primary textbook will be
The Jones and Bartlett book:
Critical Care Transport\
ISBN-13: 978-1449642587


Other texts will be recommended and reviewed as we go.
This includes materials to be successful on the FP-C or CCP-C exams.


CCA is allowing for a payment plan of three payments over the course of the program.
Contact point is
Cindy Smith, Administrative Assistant
for more details (including your actual cost $$)
Cindy.Smith@ccaurora.edu
303-340-7070
 

I hope those of you in the area can take advantage of furthering your knowledge base through this outstanding course.

Posted by Nancy Purcell
[Last Edited by Nancy Purcell Oct-06-12 at 7:37PM]

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