Every June, the National Safety Council encourages individuals to prioritize safety in their daily activities through the programming of National Safety Month. This year, the theme was “It Takes All of Us”, which was intended to remind organizations that each individual must be involved in order to make any real impact on overall safety.
With the recent launch of its Evacuation Kits, Med Sled® is also promoting the importance of individuals in emergency preparedness. The Evacuation Kits are specifically engineered to meet the needs of four key roles during evacuations, including Unit Captain, Staff, Staff Stairwell and Ambulatory Patient. Each Evacuation Kit is easily deployed and maintained and contains supplies designed to increase the speed and safety of an evacuation.
The Unit Captain Evacuation Kit is designed for someone who is responsible for coordinating all aspects of evacuating their unit or floor. It contains tools for communication, signage and indication, and direction of staff to necessary evacuation roles.
The Staff Evacuation Kit contains supplies for a healthcare provider or nurse responsible for identifying non-ambulatory patients, securing patients in Med Sled® devices, documenting patient needs and transporting patients to the nearest protocol stairwell exit.
For individuals responsible for movement of non-ambulatory patients both sending and receiving down stairwells, the Staff Stairwell Evacuation Kit provides all of the necessary supplies. The contents of this kit are intended to coincide with the specific training and precise communication needed to perform the role of safely evacuating non-ambulatory patients.
In addition to Staff Evacuation Kits, Med Sled® created the Ambulatory Patient Evacuation Kit for any patients, guests or staff who can safely and securely follow basic instructions from staff to evacuate themselves from the building with minimal assistance. These kits contain basic supplies for safely navigating a potentially hazardous environment during an evacuation.
The National Safety Council, through National Safety Month, often promotes the importance of thorough planning and preparedness. An excerpt from their official website states, “A successful safety program depends on spotting hazards early, evaluating their risk and removing or controlling them before harm is done. Consider ways to engage everyone in reducing risk in your workplaces. A little effort today has the potential to prevent tragedy tomorrow.” (Source: http://www.nsc.org/nsc_events/Nat_Safe_Month/Pages/home.aspx)
The Med Sled® Evacuation Kit is designed specifically to increase the preparedness of facilities and engage each individual in their role during an evacuation. Med Sled® is committed to continually helping facilities and organizations prepare for emergencies in the most effective ways possible with the goal of saving lives when it really counts.