The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) and the Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada (EMSCC), together with the Calgary EMS Foundation, have jointly identified the need to better understand the patient safety issues unique to the delivery of patient care in emergency medical services. A coordinated and collaborative approach to exploring and addressing the need for new knowledge in this field has therefore been undertaken.

At the end of May 2008, CPSI and EMSCC issued a call for membership to invite interested individuals, including researchers and decision-makers in the areas of patient safety and/or pre-hospital care, to apply to become members of an emerging pan-Canadian Advisory Committee. During the first committee meeting on July 24, 2008, the members agreed that "emergency medical services" more appropriately reflected current terminology in Canada than "pre-hospital care" and helped to better define the scope of this initiative. Thus, the initiative will now be referred to as "Patient Safety in Emergency Medical Services", and is reflected as a change in the committee title.

For more information about this initiative, contact Sandi Kossey at skossey@cpsi-icsp.ca