Best Preparation Practices for Medical Emergencies in Orthopedic Manufacturing Facilities

Your orthopedic manufacturing facility is designed to protect your workers and, ultimately, make a positive difference in the health of patients. Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean your business is immune to on-site health issues. There will be times when staff and visitors experience accidents and injuries that result in medical emergencies.
 
It’s an ethical duty and practical advantage to make certain you can address these swiftly and effectively. Solid planning and preparation will be key to empowering your facility and its staff to thrive during and beyond emergencies. Let’s take a closer look at some of the actions you should take here.

Risk Assessment

Any manufacturing facility presents a range of risks that need to be managed. This includes medical emergency risks. There will certainly be some more general areas of focus. Some of the common hazards in these spaces include back injuries from lifting heavy medical device inventory incorrectly and hearing loss from noisy production machinery.
 
However, there will also be more nuanced risks that are unique to orthopedic device production and your own operations. For instance, many facilities are now using medical-grade computer numerical control (CNC) machines for tooling. While this might seem safe, there are still risks. Parts of the machine put under intense pressure or incorrectly maintained can rupture. This ejects the part from the CNC machine, potentially causing impact injuries. This is why one of the most important first preparatory practices is to perform a thorough risk assessment.
 
This is often most effective when you approach it from a collaborative standpoint. Gather employees from all departments and levels of seniority to discuss what the current hazards are. The input of these workers is vital because they’ll have a practical understanding of the specific everyday operations in their fields and what risks arise. They’re also likely to have insights into preventative measures. Make safety part of your pre-production meetings, too, to identify potential project-based issues.

Comprehensive Response Plans

Despite your best efforts, medical emergencies in orthopedic manufacturing facilities will occasionally arise. You should create documents on procedures for how to respond to each type of medical emergency and ensure workers both have training on these and have access to the document in both physical and digital forms.
 
Some of the concepts to clarify include:

• Who to contact: When a medical emergency occurs, it’s essential that workers understand the first point of contact. This might include the appropriate first-aid trained staff member in their department. It could involve knowing when to call emergency services. Even after the event, they should know who to contact for follow-ups on equipment inspections and safeguarding to prevent future issues.

• How to identify resources: There should be resources for handling the immediate medical emergency throughout your orthopedic manufacturing facility. This includes first aid kits and perhaps defibrillators. Inform each worker of the locations for these and post clear signage. 

• How to secure the area: Once the immediate needs of the injured have been addressed, your staff should know how to adjust the area of the accident appropriately. This might involve turning off machines and ensuring a clear route to the site for emergency services personnel. If blood is involved, there may need to be biohazard cleaning to ensure orthopedic devices aren’t contaminated.

Alongside in-facility emergencies, your response measures should include guidance for those who leave to go to meetings and other tasks. For instance, highlight the steps to take during a work-related automobile accident. Ensure your employees know how to get to safety first wherever possible before calling 911. Communicate the importance of collecting information from all involved parties and — if possible — taking photographs of the scene. Reassure them that there are workers’ compensation schemes in place to cover medical expenses and lost income, alongside information on how to claim for these.

First Aid Training

One of the vital points of preparation for medical emergencies in your orthopedic manufacturing facility is to empower your workers to address immediate problems. This is particularly vital if your facility is based in an industrial park far outside of the nearest town or city, where emergency services might take slightly longer to get to the scene.
 
Your first step is to review the OSHA standards for first aid required for your type of facility. Wherever possible, you should provide first-aid guidance to as many employees as is practical. Orthopedic manufacturers often have employees working in shifts throughout the day and the last thing you want is for the only knowledgeable responder to be away from the site or working in a different department. Some of the elements employees should have a good working understanding of include:

• How to stop bleeding by securing a tourniquet.
• Flushing the eyes of colleagues who have received debris or chemicals to the face.
• Treating severe burns by cooling down the affected area and dressing it to minimize infection. 

Additionally, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is crucial should colleagues go into cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, there are a range of reasons bystanders don’t perform CPR during medical emergencies. This includes a fear of performing the procedure wrong, fear of being sued, and a lack of training. Overcoming this bystander effect tends to involve empowering workers to feel confident and capable in these scenarios. Therefore, it’s wise to arrange for CPR certification that takes workers through the procedures and gives them a chance to practice in a safe space. Each certified worker is a resource that can literally save lives in your orthopedic manufacturing facility.

Conclusion

By taking the time to conduct preparation practices for medical emergencies, you can minimize their immediate effects and improve long-term outcomes. This should involve performing risk assessments alongside empowering employees with first aid training. That said, it’s vital to recognize that risk profiles change over time. You need to keep on top of what the current gaps in knowledge are for your organization so that you can address these before they affect employee health and operational productivity.
 
Amanda Winstead is a writer from the Portland area with a background in communications and a passion for telling stories. Along with writing she enjoys traveling, reading, working out, and going to concerts. If you want to follow her writing journey, or even just say hi you can find her on Twitter.