CAMTS releases 10th edition standards

The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) has released the 10th edition of its accreditation standards. The Tenth Edition reflects ongoing changes in healthcare and the medical transport profession, said the US-based organisation, adding that ‘commitment to patient care and safety of the transport environment form the foundation of these voluntary standards’.

This edition of the standards has been vetted by the medial transport profession in various drafts and in ‘town hall’ meetings over the past four years. The most significant change, said CAMTS, addresses the types of care provided: “In past editions, a medical team was considered critical care if a physician or registered nurse was the primary care provider. However, through its many deliberations, the Board of Directors recognised that the primary care provider’s discipline was not the only consideration to determine that the patient was receiving the best care possible. In Section 03.00.00, the Types of Care are defined by the qualifications of the medical team along with equipment, medications, interventions and quality metrics, all of which are determined as pertinent to the service’s mission and scope of service (which include scope of care).”

Another change is that the term ‘ambulance’, used throughout the document, now refers to any surface vehicle being used for patient care and transport, whether a ‘ground’ ambulance, boat, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), etc. The standards apply to all such vehicles as appropriate to the type of service and limitations of the actual vehicle.

The Tenth Edition also addresses international medical transport services as appropriate to the country of residence and the specific regulator of that country as referenced by the term ‘Authority Having Jurisdiction’ (AHJ).

CAMTS added that as standards are dynamic and not static, it values its constituents’ comments and suggestions for future changes.