Post Traumatic Stress Risk Management Case Study

The first area that I feel would benefit from a risk management strategy is employee health, specifically in the area of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD). Many employers offer employee assistance programs, but these programs only cover a few sessions and just barely touch the surface of possible issues employees experience. Many employees attempt to deal quietly post-traumatic disorder symptoms and its secondary symptoms such as substance abuse,divorce and other forms of depression. Many think personal complaining of this type of issues is weak and must deal with completely on their own. However, this suddenly changes when it affects their co-workers and their employer.

The reason that I feel we need to have a risk strategy

for dealing with PTSD is because it is affecting the daily operations of a company. Stop and think how many in public safety that are divorced, abuse of all types of substances and experience symptoms of PTSD without even knowing it. Some will argue this do not affect the company, but in reality, it does because it can affect the morale of other employees, overtime when the employee is absent from work and in some instances violence against co-workers or the general public. Having a strategy to deal with this type issues gives the administration and the employee resources that provide the type of care needed for issues of this nature. Claims could occur when an employee snaps causing injuries to co-workers or even worse a member of the general public through any possible means and worse case scenario family members could hold the company responsible if the employee commits suicide after being denied time to receive or recover from treatment.
The second area that could benefit from a risk assessment is vehicle maintenance and crashes that occur during their response to incidents.

When crashes occur while an ambulance is responding to any type of incident they are extremely costly to the service in many ways. These crash create multiple expenses that range from paying for damage to the responding unit, but if the ambulance is at fault for the incident cost of other parties vehicle repair or replacement and medical expenses for injuries sustained. Claims can come from an ambulance being delayed for something as simple as a flat tire or crews claiming that their brakes failed as they approached a busy intersection and were unable to stop until they collided violently with another vehicle severely injuring all its occupants. Equipment malfunctions and crashes such as this could very easily bring the maintenance records for a unit into question, especially if multiple crews get on the stand and testify the problem was reported repeatedly without being corrected properly. This could present multiple problems for the ambulance service in many different ways, such the crew admitting they operated the vehicle with a known mechanical which shows negligence on their part and negligence on the service its self because they failed to address or correct the mechanical problem which contributed to the crash and the injuries the occupants of the other vehicle

sustained.  
The final area that should be addressed and a thorough risk assessment conducted on how calls are documented.

Crews can either save their butts or dig their own grave, depending on how thoroughly and accurately they document a call. Documentation, when performed properly, is the best friend of any emergency medical service technician regardless of their level of training because it can serve as reminder years after an incident has occurred by re-creating the incident and describing the reasons specific actions were taken and treatment administered or withheld depending on the circumstances. When done improperly documentation, for example, can open avenues for claims of negligence or a failure to act because standard and accepted medical treatments were not performed per the written documentation of the incident even if they were performed or the patient experienced an adverse reaction that was unforeseen. It is for reasons like this that accurate documentation of an incident is critical to a provider's professional reputation, description of the provider's ability to provide adequate and accurate medical treatment and perform specialized

skills,
In closing, these three areas are my opinion only and so are my reasons, any of the three areas can cause an emergency medical service to fail from a business perspective financially and worst cases even providers themselves can be held liable financially for their actions or even failure to act. Emergency medical providers and services must always consider liability when they act or fail to provide appropriate medical care in a timely and compassionate manner.