As a secretary, administrative assistant, or other office professional, you likely go through your day with the ups and downs of a long to-do list. You probably spend much of your time tackling problems as you go, putting out fires, and keeping everyone on task. Yet, one thing many offices do not plan for is a medical emergency.
What if someone suddenly cannot breathe? What do you do if an employee has a serious cut on their hand? These situations can happen anywhere and at any time. What you do in the first few minutes is critical to saving the life of a person and minimizing other outcomes. Yet, to know what to do – and to react fast enough – you need to ensure your offices as a medical emergency plan in place. If you don’t have one yet, here’s how to create one.
Assess Your Current Emergency Medical Plan
A good starting point is analyzing your existing emergency plan and the work area itself. For example, consider these questions:
- Has there been a medical emergency recently? If so, what went well and what did not?
- Are there medical supplies available, and is someone in charge of maintaining them?
- Is there a plan in place for who will take action when there is a medical emergency?
- Do you have an incident management plan to handle the outcome of such an event?
- Does the employee guidebook provide any instructions to employees about what to do, who to call, and how to react?
Take a look at where you stand now. Then, work on the following areas to create a strong, prepared office for medical emergencies.
Set the Location Up for Success
Start with putting in place all of the tools necessary to ensure people have what they need to get the results they need.
- List of phone numbers: This should include the police department, fire department, ambulance services, poison control, and hospital facilities.
- First aid kit: Choose one that is appropriate for the type of workspace you operate in, as a large industrial office is going to need a more robust first aid kit than one for a traditional, small office. Ensure someone is responsible for maintaining it and ordering supplies.
- AED device: An AED device is one of the most critical types of first aid tools available. If a person’s heart stops, and an AED device is used within three minutes, that person’s chances of survival are 75%. Not only should you have one, but you need to ensure multiple core employees have training in how to use them.
- First aid training and CPR certification; The next step is to ensure that you have core members of the staff trained in managing medical emergencies. First aid training and CPR certification are available from local organizations and are something you should continue to invest in each year.
Create a Disaster Management Team
The next step in this process is having a team in place to respond. While all employees should know what to do, having employees dedicated to specific tasks during an emergency can help to minimize the negative outcome. When people know what they have to do, how to do it, and practice it, they can react more efficiently when the time comes.
- Select the leader: Who will be the person responsible in an emergency? This should include a manager or other party who will specifically go to the aid of the individual and provide medical care.
- The second person: This person’s job is to facilitate the process, including getting emergency supplies and equipment to the person leading. Their job is to react by getting the supplies needed, not to go directly to the injured party.
- The third person: This person’s job is to call emergency medical professionals to provide insight into what is occurring and to direct the medical professionals from the front door of the building to the emergency occurring. Their job is not to remain on the phone with 911 but to hand over the phone to the leader if that person needs help in meeting the victim’s needs. This helps ensure that medical professionals can easily get to the emergency once they arrive.
In addition to creating a team to manage this process, you need to practice it. Host a few demonstrations using individuals who choke, collapse due to a heart attack, suffer a significant cut, or pass out. Then, practice what should happen. If you need help with this process, turn to a local organization that specializes in it. It can be one of the best ways for you to protect your employees in the long term.
Work to Develop the Skills to Lead in a Medical Emergency
Being a team leader is much different during a medical emergency than it is during any other type of company challenge. As an office leader, you need to remember some of the most important components to getting care to your employees:
- If you panic, they will panic. That’s easier to say than to practice, though. The key is to keep calm as much as possible, as this allows you to remain alert during the event to process what needs to occur.
- Trust your training. If you practice your training enough, you will be able to navigate this process with ease and use your instincts to guide you rather than having to think of a solution.
- Prioritize properly. People are always first. If someone is unresponsive, they need immediate help first with breathing, then with restarting the heart. You then need to keep them still until medical professionals arrive.
- Know your team’s risks. While employee confidentiality with medical matters is a big deal, encourage your team to let you know about their medical conditions so you can prepare in case of an emergency, such as providing help to a diabetic.
By working on improving your skills in this area, you can become a truly valuable leader within your company. You’re also learning skills that apply to any other area of your life.