With prior feedback from EMS practitioners, new design guidance has been developed for ambulance patient compartments that addresses crashworthiness, EMS practitioner safety and performance, and patient safety. This guidance is a result of a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate Resilient Systems Division (RSD) and First Responders Group, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and BMT Designers and Planners (D&P). NIOSH is focusing on crashworthiness while NIST/D&P are focusing on performance and safety in the patient compartment.

Since the last update to NAEMT members, the NIST/D&P team has significantly revised the emerging requirements and developed design concepts based on those requirements. These concepts have been evaluated using modeling and simulation as well as through presentations to members of the EMS community.

The group will present the status of their research and elicit feedback at EMS Today on March 9 at 2:15 pm. Please plan to attend the presentation and participate in the open discussion following to share your thoughts on the feasibility and effectiveness of the design concepts. If you’d like to get involved with any part of this effort, please contact Bonnie Novak (DHS) at bonnie.novak@dhs.gov, Jennifer Marshall (NIST) at jennifer.marshall@nist.gov, or James Green (NIOSH) at jsg9@cdc.gov.