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ADVERTORIAL Standardizing Safety: Do You Measure Up? FOR MORE INFO: FERNOEMS.COM | 877.733.0911 July, 2016 All frst responders are depended upon to do a job nobody else can do, at a time when nobody else can help. It is critically important that constant, hands-on training takes place with actual tools-of-the-trade to ensure positive patient outcomes. We remember the frst time we used the "new" defbrillator on a patient. Either there were trepidations and butterfies in the stomach wondering if you could operate it, or there was confdence that you knew it like the back of your hand. And if you had the cooperation of the patient's circulatory system, they would soon be walking out of the hospital. Being creatures of habit, we are perhaps more resistant to change than the average civilian. Change, to us, could impact the life or death of a patient. However, some changes are long overdue. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) published their Recommended Practice J3027 for Patient Litter, Fastener and Restraint Systems in 2014, preceded by a multi-year scientifc and peer-reviewed development and testing period. The purpose of this SAE document is to describe the conditions a cot, its foor fastener and the patient restraints (belts) have to meet in order to keep a patient on the cot and the cot fastened to the foor during a 30-mph impact. The results of testing showed that a traditional "Antler and Rail" fastening system could not be expected to meet this criteria. There are no "Federal Regulations" for ambulances operating within the ffty states and each state is now in a position of deciding whether or not to adopt SAE J3027 into their minimum requirements for ambulance certifcation. Fortunately, states have several options to help them with that process. The KKK-A1822-F (CN8) Federal Ambulance Purchasing Specifcation may be adopted by a state (around thirty have already, in whole or in part). Likewise, the state may adopt the NFPA- 1917 Ambulance Standard or, when published, the new CAAS GVS v1.0 Standard. Both standards and the KKK specifcation include a requirement to meet SAE J3027. If you operate a service in a state that has not adopted the SAE J3027 requirement into their MINIMUM requirements, remember you are able to specify an SAE J3027 compliant cot system as an addition or improvement to your own purchasing documents. Ferno has been helping lead the efort when it comes to the EMS regulatory environment and has several of its own engineers who serve on committees that have overseen the new SAE and KKK standards. As a result of our partnerships with agencies such as NIOSH, NTEA and AMO, we have been at the forefront of innovating products that meet these new standards. Ferno's iN∫LINE™ and Stat Trac® Cot Fastening Systems have been dynamically tested and are fully compliant with new SAE ambulance safety standards. While the iN∫LINE Fastening System works exclusively with the iN∫X® Integrated Patient Transport & Loading System, the Stat Trac Fastening System achieves full SAE compliance when combined with the POWERFlexx®+ST or the 35XST PROFlexx®. "Change, to us, could impact the life or death of a patient. However, some changes are long overdue." For More Information Circle 15 on Reader Service Card