Patient Transport: What Quality of Care Should You Expect?
If you or a loved one needs to be conveyed from your home to a health facility for a medical appointment via non-emergency transport, you will want the trip to go in a safe and timely manner. You will also expect your patient transport service to be professional in its interaction with the patients that it helps to transport.
Ideally, medical transport personnel should have adequate training that makes them responsible for those they transport. In reality, the quality of care will vary across various transporters.
This article will give you a broad idea of what to expect from a service provider that takes its patient care seriously.
Care You Can Expect from Patient Transport Services
Here are five ways that medical transport companies can help patients on their journeys to and from medical appointments.
1. Assisting Patients In And Out of the Transport Vehicle
If patients are injured or chronically ill, they may find it challenging to get into a vehicle without support. The Patient Transport Service (PTS) driver or Ambulance Care Assistant can help them in this situation.
If you or your loved one has mobility issues, you could get lifted into the transport van with a wheelchair. Patients should also be helped out of the vehicle when they arrive at their destination.
2. Provide Emotional Support
Patient transport service drivers are expected to be empathetic, caring, and possess excellent inter-relational skills. These could be important for patients who are in distress, anxious or have special needs.
The emotional support you receive from the staff on board the transport vehicle may give you some of the psychological lift you require to get through tough moments in your treatment process.
3. Provide First Aid
Many non-emergency patient transport companies prefer to have PTS drivers who are trained in administering First Aid.
If a patient’s condition deteriorates unexpectedly and they are unable to breathe, the driver should be able to carry out cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on them. Where the person being conveyed has cuts or broken bones, the transport provider’s personnel should be able to apply plaster and splinting.
4. Keeping Patients Company
Some patients will want to engage in conversations during the trip. The staff from the transport service provider should be perceptive enough to pick up on queues that indicate this. They could signal that the patient feels lonely and wants to ward off the feeling. Human communication might help them stay positive and impact their overall experience throughout the journey.
5. Provide Care for Patients With Special Needs
Patient transport personnel should be aware of the needs of patients with visual or hearing impairments, and try to make them as comfortable as possible when they are being transported. Older people and the physically incapacitated will also require special attention; PTS staff will be able to handle these cases without any significant hitches if they are trained and experienced enough.
Conclusion
Your medical transport service provider should offer more than just a trip. They should interact with their patients humanely and leave them feeling positive, comfortable, and dignified.
