Examining the Layout and Organization of the Ambulance Patient Care Environment

Issue
The Healthcare Human Factors group at the University Health Network was approached to make improvements to the patient care environment of paramedics. The present research aims to (1) understand the current workflow, challenges, and requirements associated with physical layout of the patient care area to identify possible human factors issues, and (2) develop, test and refine a redesign of the pre-hospital patient care simulator to determine its impact on workflow and safety. An additional goal is to compare adverse event reports and human factors methods to determine the relationship between the data sets.

Methods
To understand the current workflow and develop a task analysis a combination of field studies, interviews and simulations are being used. Simulations are being used to develop a clear understanding of how the available space and resources are being used and to identify areas for improvement. Suggested modifications will be implemented and tested in simulations to assess the impact of these recommendations.

Results
Results to come.