Pre-hospital Transitions and Emergency Care

Abstract

In this chapter, Scott et al. aim to explore the components of high-quality care during transitions in a pre-hospital emergency care setting. The chapter reflects upon the quality and safety issues surrounding transitions in the pre-hospital emergency care setting. The authors do this from the perspectives of services, clinicians and patients by drawing upon relevant literature. Scott et al. describe an example of a project aiming to improve handover practice within a Canadian emergency medical system, and the chapter argues that such improvement projects should be grounded both in learning from what went wrong (Safety-I perspective) and in learning from what went well (Safety-II perspective). Lastly, a discussion follows on the involvement of patients and carers in decision-making.