Circling the SQuARE Patient Safety in Long Haul Air Ambulance Missions

In the history of medicine, the subspecialty of ‘transport medicine’ (clinical management of patients during air transport) is very much the newest kid on the block. Its origins lay in pre-hospital and immediate aid, with attention to care and comfort in the air. The principle of non-maleficence, or primum non nocere (‘first, do no harm’), is an ethical cornerstone for healthcare professionals around the world and it reminds us to consider the possible harm that any intervention or situation may do, whether it be clinical, logistic or environmental. The principle is invoked when considering the use of an intervention (physical, physiological, psychological, or pharmacological) that carries obvious risks of harm, weighed against a less certain chance of benefit.

ICARUS e.V. has adopted the CCATTM approach to patient safety which has its basis with this cornerstone (the SQuARE ,safety quality and aeromedical risk evaluation) within a circle of evaluation.