With an ever growing population, health infrastructure in our cities and towns is crumbling amidst the growing demand for medical care and facilities. Today we face an urgent need for hospital-based trauma and emergency care units, lifesaving care, care for uninsured patients and public health surveillance and disaster management systems to cater to this this surging patient numbers and limited health infrastructure.
In times like these, companies and industries globally are waking up to the promise of having Emergency Treatment Units or ETUs as a go-between for responding to medical emergencies and long-term medical care of their employees at worksites that are hazardous in nature or located in tough locations like mines, construction sites, factories, forests, mountains or in areas from where the nearest hospital or medical facility is far to access.
Primarily Emergency Treatment Units serve to admit, stabilize and manage patients with both emergency and non-urgent medical conditions who volunteer to make a visit or who may have been referred by a medical practitioner or others. The ETU or the mobile treatment center(mtc) functions as a place for treating medical emergencies and therefore becomes a smaller component or model of a traditional hospital or a medical facility set up.
Receiving patients, giving assessment and offering treatments like resuscitation, pediatric care, emergency medicine, observation, primary care for patients with mild conditions, providing test results etc are functions usually associated with ETUs or the mobile treatment center. The management of pediatric patients, trauma patients, psychiatric patients, or patients who are victims of sexual assaults, suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and sometimes their transportation to a nearby health facility in lieu of advanced care and tele-medical consultation or referrals falls under the purview of functions performed by staff at an ETU or a mobile casualty treatment centre. The logic behind this machinery is that patients who are critically injured or in a psychological or psychiatric crisis need immediate medical attention. They need to be stabilized, assessed and given initial treatment – all of which can be provided by an the ETU which is also called Mobile Treatment Center.
These are mobile and located at a worksite or at a location from where a hospital or medical facility are far away. The main aim is to provide ready medical assistance and more importantly an adequate and safe space for immediate supervision and treatment and is not meant for prolonged observation of patients who may need further treatment at a nearby hospital or a medical facility.
As per British Columbia Occupational Health & Safety Guidelines, a mobile rehabilitation center or treatment centers are usually used for emergencies occurring at the worksite for its first aid services. They are especially important if the worksite is more than 2 hours from the nearest hospital or medical facility and if the workplace does not provide overnight accommodation to sick or injured workers/employees.
Certain utilities like storage space, linen, waste bins, ambulance facilities are commonly found in these Emergency Treatment Units. So now that we know what an Emergency Treatment Unit consists of, let us outline how an emergency treatment unit in Kamloops provides first aid services to people and companies:
-TIMELY ASSESSMENT
A detailed assessment of the workplace hazards becomes a foundation for the kind of emergency treatment unit and medical staff that a company wishes to hire on site in an ETU. This could also inform the type of emergency treatment unit a company wishes to employ in their worksite. Potential health hazards or injuries that can be tackled by such an ETU include falls, low blood pressure, shock, bleeding, cuts, severed limbs, burns, accidents, intoxication due to exposure to hazardous chemicals, fires, electrocution, exposure to excessive heat or cold temperatures, lack of oxygen, exposure to animal bites, stings or infections and first aid and care in case of cardiac arrests till a medical facility is reached. While in many of these cases, first aid is only a temporary step yet it forms the crucial step that could save lives in many cases like cardiac arrests or accidents.
-ACCESS TO ADDITIONAL CARE
In cases where patients need to be rushed to a hospital, the ETU doubles up as a secure and safe area where the patient is medically secured through first aid and then transported to the facility. This comes handy when work is happening on remote locations or the work is hazardous in nature or when work happens in arduous weather conditions. These ETUs are fitted with roll-over protection, medical attendants to supervise the patient until they are transported to the nearest medical facility. Due to its high adaptability in times of emergencies, these ETUs serve the two-in-one purpose of being an on-site treatment center and as an emergency medical transportation unit. Even for treating psychological or psychiatric problems, the mobile rehab center or mobile rehabilitation center can become a good starting place for workers who wish to begin medical interventions into their conditions.
–SAFETY FIRST
By closely resembling a first aid unit at a hospital, an Emergency Treatment Unit contains all the remote medical supplies or the necessary first aid room equipment needed to provide immediate access to mobile first aid to workers on site. What’s more, based on the nature of the injury or emergency, it doubles up as Mobile Medical unit with remote medical services and as an advanced mobile first aid safety vehicle transporting a victim to the nearest hospital or medical facility on a priority basis. These mtcs are known for their quick turnaround time in transporting patients to the nearest hospital thereby playing a crucial part in saving lives.
-HIGHLY TRAINED STAFF
Ensuring that the medical staff or Emergency Medical Responder attendants at your mobile medical unit or these Medical units are a correct fit for the needs of your work environment are most crucial while planning toemploy an advanced mobile first aid and safety unit onsite. Depending on the nature of work and its hazards, the location of the worksite, distance to medical aid, companies can choose between OFAs(Occupational First Aid) or EMRs (Emeregency Medical Responders) for leading the emergency care at the ETUs. Both categories come with different skill sets and training levels and there are also 3 levels of OFA certification and training for professionals available for hire. So while OFA Level 3 attendants might be the only trained medical responders on your worksite, many a times it’s the EMR certified first aid attendants that are better at dealing with complex medical emergencies and tend to work with other trained medical staff with the help of pre-hospital medical equipment. Moreover now there are also industry specific medics one can hire including forestry medics, Mining medics, Major Construction medics, Oil and Gas medics who have specific training related to onsite injuries or accidents related to these industries. Incidentally they can be hired for working at Kamloops mobile treatment center or in the Kamloops emergency treatment units provided by companies like Kel Dam First Aid Services Ltd that operate out of the British Columbia region.