What are the benefits?

EMER has been modelled on the successful implementation of other specialty-specific incident reporting systems in anaesthesia and radiology. Collecting and analysing data about specialty-specific adverse events has led to a better understanding of contributing factors and how the risk of harm to patients can be minimised or prevented. Through promotion of findings through publications and conferences, assessment of clinical practice can be reviewed to ensure best patient outcomes and a safety culture.

The classification and analysis of incidents in EMER allows a systematic means for the following purposes:

• to identify the aetiology of specific incident types in emergency medicine;
• to identify common failure modes in the emergency medicine environments;
• to differentiate organisational and technical failures in emergency medicine from human factor issues.

Additionally, the above learnings can be translated back to the emergency medicine profession, thereby promoting a safety culture and an enhanced understanding of initiatives to enhance patient safety.