Safety and Emergency Response
Reduce the everyday hazards
Most injuries are not dramatic; they are falls, burns, and strains. Fall prevention means bed in the low position and locked, call light and personal items within reach, non-skid footwear, clear pathways, adequate lighting, and answering call lights promptly. Toileting on a schedule prevents the I needed the bathroom fall. Use a gait belt for transfers and ambulation, keep your back straight with the resident close to you, and never lift a resident alone or by the armpits. Check water temperature before bathing. Never allow smoking or petroleum products near oxygen.
Emergencies have a sequence
Fire: RACE - Rescue anyone in immediate danger, Alarm, Contain the fire by closing doors, Extinguish or Evacuate. For the extinguisher, PASS - Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. Horizontal evacuation (moving residents past fire doors on the same floor) is used before vertical evacuation. Choking: for a conscious adult, give abdominal thrusts; for an unconscious resident, lower to the floor, call for help, and begin CPR per your training. Seizure: protect the head, do not restrain or put anything in the mouth, time it, and turn the resident to the side afterward. Report any sudden change in condition immediately.
The trap: incident reports
You report an incident to the nurse right away and complete an incident report factually - what you saw, heard, and did - with no blame, opinion, or speculation. The incident report is not part of the medical record; never write incident report completed in the nurse's notes or argue with a resident about fault.
Rule of thumb - the four P's on every round: position, pain, potty, possessions within reach.