Journal of Health and Environmental Research 2022; 8(1): 55-60 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/jher doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20220801.19 ISSN: 2472-3584 (Print); ISSN: 2472-3592 (Online) Patient Safety in Emergency Departments: Improvement Is Possible Julián Alcaraz-Martinez 1, * , Jesús Maria Aranaz-Andrés 2 , Juana Maria Marín-Martínez 3 , Cristina Esteban-Lloret 4 , Isabel Maria Reina-Nicolás 4 , Sara Ramos-López 4 , Belén Soto-Castellón 4 , Clara Gómez García 4 , Manuel Belda-Palazón 5 , Carmen Escudero-Sánchez 6 , Pascual Piñera-Salmerón 7 , Dolores Beteta Fernández 3 1 Quality Unit, JM Morales Meseguer University Hospital (Hospital Universitario JM Morales Meseguer), Murcia, Spain 2 Department of Preventative Medicine, Ramón and Cajal University Hospital (Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal), Madrid, Spain 3 Emergency Department, Virgen de la Arrixaca Clinic Hospital (Hospital Clínico Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca) Murcia, Spain 4 Emergency Department, JM Morales Meseguer University Hospital (Hospital Universitario JM Morales Meseguer), Murcia, Spain 5 Emergency Department, Rafael Méndez University Hospital (Hospital Universitario Rafael Méndez), Lorca, Spain 6 Emergency Department, de la Vega Lorenzo Guirao Hospital (Hospital de la Vega Lorenzo Guirao), Cieza, Spain 7 Emergency Department, Reina Sofía University Hospital, Murcia, Spain Email address: * Corresponding author To cite this article: Julián Alcaraz-Martinez, Jesús Maria Aranaz-Andrés, Juana Maria Marín-Martínez, Cristina Esteban-Lloret, Isabel Maria Reina-Nicolás, Sara Ramos-López, Belén Soto-Castellón, Clara Gómez García, Manuel Belda-Palazón, Carmen Escudero-Sánchez, Pascual Piñera- Salmerón, Dolores Beteta Fernández. Patient Safety in Emergency Departments: Improvement Is Possible. Journal of Health and Environmental Research. Vol. 8, No. 1, 2022, pp. 55-60. doi: 10.11648/j.jher.20220801.19 Received: February 25, 2022; Accepted: March 12, 2022; Published: March 23, 2022 Abstract: Emergency services have a high potential risk for adverse events. The working conditions are sometimes conducive to making mistakes. There are few studies that have shown improvements in specific aspects of patient safety in the emergency department, but none in the overall incidence. The general objective is to improve patient safety in our emergency services by implementing improvement actions. This is a quasi-experimental study carried out in 8 hospital emergency services. The methodology is mainly based on the EVADUR and ENEAS studies. We collect data through a face-to-face interview during their stay in the Emergency Department and carry out a telephone review 1 week later. We then inform the departments of the results and initiate improvement activities. 14 improvement measures were implemented in the different emergency services. Two years later, a reassessment was carried out using the same methodology. An initial sample of 382 cases was collected. After the improvement actions, data from 267 patients were collected. No significant differences were found between the 2 groups in terms of age, sex, triage level, hospital, care shift, average length of stay and discharge destination. In the initial evaluation, at least 1 incidence was detected in 46 patients (12.04%), and in the reevaluation, 16 patients with an incident (5.99%) were detected. The differences were statistically significant (p<0.01). The emergency services studied were able to reduce the number of patient safety incidents. Keywords: Safety Patient, Emergency Service, Quality Improvement 1. Introduction A total of 30.4 million emergencies are treated annually in the emergency departments of Spanish hospitals [1] of which 10,6% require hospitalization. This volume of activity is very high, and both medical and organizational complexity is required to meet this demand for urgent care. Several authors agree that emergency departments are associated with a high risk potential [2-5]. The working conditions are sometimes conducive to making mistakes.