Safety and Emergency Response
Prioritize life safety
Order of priorities in any emergency: stay safe, call for help, stay with the resident, and give only the care you are trained for. You are not expected to diagnose. Your job is to recognize, report, and support.
Fire: RACE - Rescue anyone in immediate danger, Alarm (pull station or call), Contain (close doors), Extinguish or Evacuate. PASS for an extinguisher: Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. Never use an elevator during a fire; know your horizontal evacuation route and meeting place.
Falls: If you witness a fall, do not move the resident unless they are in immediate danger. Stay with them, call for the nurse, keep them warm and still, and watch breathing. Document objectively - what you saw, what the resident said, injuries noted. The incident report is not part of the medical record, so you do not chart that you filed one.
Choking: stop feeding, call for help, and let the nurse perform abdominal thrusts if trained and authorized.
Seizure: protect the head, move objects away, do not restrain or put anything in the mouth, stay until it ends, and report.
Environment and equipment
Keep pathways clear, call light within reach, bed low with brakes locked, side rails only as ordered, spills wiped up at once, and water temperature checked before use. Never use a restraint as a fall-prevention shortcut; try a toileting schedule, closer observation, or activity first.
Traps
- Moving a fallen resident to make them comfortable before assessment.
- Assuming a resident who looks fine after a fall needs no report.
- Leaving a resident alone during a seizure.
- Running for a phone before pulling the alarm.
Rule of thumb
For any sudden change - fall, choke, seizure, chest pain, unresponsiveness - do not leave the resident alone; use the call light or shout for help.