Emerging from the shell of shrill tokenism, worksite or workplace safety has slowly emerged to become more than a buzzword these days! With stricter government regulations that ensure safety of workers or employees, it seems like more and more companies globally are seeing the wisdom of having a small medical treatment center situated in the workplace or worksite and investing in employee health and safety than before.
More importantly medium and large businesses running industrial operations in the British Columbia province are emphatically choosing to enforce health and safety protocols at work with the aid of small medical units that are stationed on work sites or offices called Mobile treatment centers or mtcs, many studies have often shown that are more successful in reaching vulnerable people directly in their location and show greater flexibility in adapting to the changing needs of the community it is serving.
In the strictest sense, Mobile treatment centers are smaller medical units that are mounted on a van or bus which are then equipped with first aid supplies and emergency response equipment to treat patients on-site and also to move them to the nearest hospital or medical center for immediate treatment.
MTCs are usually deployed at industrial areas, at high-risk worksites, remote worksites, warehouses, in wilderness or forest areas from where the nearest health facility is a long drive off or where the chances or risk of an injury or an imminent threat to life of an employee is high.
These would usually include remote construction sites, bad roads, sites having tough weather conditions, sites located at elevations or in difficult geographies and terrains with limited healthcare access and uncertain weather conditions, especially in winter. In these cases remote medical supplies and remote medical services are critical to the well-being of an injured person as is the availability of mobile first aid or having a mobile medical unit stationed right at your place of work.
Operated according to the general requirements of the BC Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) regulations, most mobile treatment centers servicing companies in Kamloops are easy to move around in remote areas. They are usually akin to a hospital’s first aid room with medical equipment that allows them to function as a Emergency Transport Vehicle (ETV) and to respond to a medical emergency to aid in stabilize patients. They usually function 24/7 and have medics working in shifts.
Interestingly the scope of work of mtcs in Kamloops and across Canada has gotten broader after many hazardous industries have begun employing medical units or mtcs on their work site. So now you have Major construction medics, oil and gas medics whereby a Mining medics respond like a paramedic to injuries or illness on the mine while a forestry medic would do the same in the forest area or wilderness. A medical treatment center or a having a Kamloops mobile treatment center at your site is most suited for these operations or sectors including:
- Forestry Operations
- Mining Sites
- Oil and Gas Exploration
- Road Construction
- Forest Fire Management
- Railroad Construction/Maintenance sites
- Movie Productions or sets
MTCs or the treatment centers are a formidable and effective way to provide immediate access to medical treatment by providing the advanced mobile first aid in safety and in transporting the patient to a hospital depending on their emergency. Typically, such MTCs are loaded with a few well-trained medical staff, first aid supplies and emergency response equipment that can treat for a range of injuries from minor ones to treating advanced trauma.
Incidentally mtcs also make good business sense as they are a good choice to comply with Work Safe British Columbia regulations for high-risk worksites. By employing companies like Kel-Dam First Aid Services from Kamloops, companies can ensure that they have the services of medical staff who have taken their training in top notch first aid training schools and are certified OFA Level 3 attendants where OFA stands for (Occupational First Aid) which is an advanced level of first aid and training.
While there are many benefits of having a mobile rehabilitation center or a mobile medical unit at your worksite or workplace, we list a few important ones here:
-First Responder in a crisis
By making healthcare and treatment available at a hazardous or tough-to-access job site, these mobile rehabilitation centers are able to quickly ascertain the medical condition or risk during an emergency. Based on this assessment, they can then provide quick conveyance to a nearby hospital in case of an injury or accident occurring on the site, where an individuals or a group’s lives could be at peril. They in essence function as Emergency Treatment Units that provide immediate attention and treatment to an injury or a medical condition that can be simply treated on sit or till the patient is transported to a healthcare facility if the injury is of more grievous nature.
-Need of the hour
MTC is especially a boon for work sites located in remote locations as they can provide instant first aid services.Studies have shown that mtcs undertake more health screenings and check-ups of the staff through which they can then help identify infectious and chronic diseases. By functioning as Emergency Treatment Units equipped with Emergency Medical Responder attendants to attend to the illness or injury, mtcs essentially give workers the first line of defence in kickstarting their treatment process.
-Boosting Employee Satisfaction
MTCs embody and provide a sense of visibility and accessibility to medical care and give a psychological buttress to employees working in risky jobs or locations and gives them a psychological boost that they will be looked after in case of any emergency. This usually results in higher employee confidence and is considered an attractive workplace perk offered by the employer at the workplace. This feature is especially beneficial to persons facing chronic illnesses that require timely monitoring and check-ups. In such cases, rather than absent themselves from work for treatment or doctor visits, they can avail the services of the MTC’s paramedic team.
-Mitigating workplace safety
Rather than give a kneejerk response to a medical emergency or an accident taking place on site, being prepared and having medical experts at site helps companies respond in a cohesive manner in less time which could be life-saving. MTCs cut through conventional healthcare barriers like transportation, lengthy administrative procedures and other logistical red tape. What’s more since the medical care offered by an MTC or involving the advanced mobile first aid safety protocols at site is often at the company’s expense it manages to cut through legal, insurance, financial cost barriers that employees could face at local health facilities or hospitals.
-Hosting regular safety drills& health screenings
MTCs in and around Kamloops and across Canada now also help formulate and guide safety or emergency drills and first-aid workshops to the employees onsite, thereby making them collaborators in each other’s safety. Safety drills are a regular feature thanks to the presence of trained medical professionals who can form a few fundamental protocols at tough worksites where working conditions are rather difficult or dangerous. Further, regular preventive health screenings hosted by the mtc medics in a company can also go a long way in alleviating health related anxieties and in boosting an employee’s state of mind at work.