The U.S. Department of Transportation is seeking an organization to perform advanced analysis of the impact of Emergency Medical Service (EMS) provider fatigue on the safety and health outcomes of patients, providers, and the public.
The availability of medical care provided by EMS workers is necessary at all times, day or night. This requirement has led to circumstances where EMS workers across the entire industry are working in sleep deprived and fatigued states.
A number of recently published scientific articles have demonstrated that not only is severe fatigue present in around 50% of EMS providers surveyed but that drowsy or fatigued EMS providers are substantially more likely to be injured on the job, commit a medical error, or perform a safety-compromising behavior.
The selected contractor will assist DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in generating and disseminating evidence-based information and tools to the EMS community. These findings and tools will empower the EMS community to develop fatigue management programs at the local level in order to improve ambulance safety on the road as well as for more effective and safer patient care.
The overall objectives of the contract are to:
- Bring together a panel of experts to define the specific fatigue related clinical questions and outcomes to be addressed in an Evidence Based Guidelines creation process
- Develop Questions and Expected Outcomes
- Perform a literature review, generate an annotated bibliography, and create evidence tables
- Develop evidence based guidelines on fatigue mitigation in EMS
- Develop performance measures for tracking the effectiveness of the fatigue EBGs
- Produce a final report, a conference presentation, and a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal
- Produce a Publication for EMS Systems and Personnel
Possible other tasks under the contract include creating a software tool to assist in EMS workforce scheduling and development of fatigue reporting instruments for the EMS community.
Further details are available via Solicitation Number: DTNH2215R00022. The response deadline is July 31, 2015.
