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Operations & systems
Patients report prehospital safety incidents
Patient safety incidents reported by patients and witnesses in prehospital emergency medical services: a multicentre prospective study
European Journal of Emergency Medicine · 2026-09-28 · Added 6 October 2026
Structured telephone interviews 15–20 days after EMS transport across eight Spanish provincial services characterised patient safety incidents reported by patients and witnesses, covering near misses and no-harm events as well as harm.
- Study type
- Cohort
- Design
- Multicentre prospective study (structured telephone interviews)
- Participants
- Not reported in abstract (eight provincial EMS services, April 2021–March 2022)
- Main finding
- Primary outcome was frequency of incidents reported by patients and witnesses across four categories (reportable circumstances, near misses, no-harm, harmful); specific frequency figures are not given in the abstract
- Caveat
- Telephone recall 15–20 days after the event is vulnerable to recall bias, and the abstract reports few numbers
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). Spain runs a physician-involved EMS model, but asking patients and witnesses about prehospital safety incidents is a method any Australian service could use — the finding is about the reporting approach, not a drug or skill.
Learning goal
Understand how patient and witness reports can reveal prehospital safety incidents including near misses and no-harm events.
More
- Topic: Operations & systems
- Daily scan: 6 October 2026
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