The paramedic intercept is a skill just as any other. Commonly overlooked during initial training, effective communications used during the patient handoff plays a significant role in patient care. Actually, the Joint Commission concluded that 70% of hospital-related “sentinel events” involved communications, with 50% of those events occurring during patient care handoffs. (J Quality Patient Safety, 2010 Feb; 36(2)) Think of the last time you were giving report, just to have the accepting physician or RN ask questions that would’ve already been answered had they been listening, and not just hearing you. I constantly listen to gripes from my peers how they felt disrespected by hospital staff, only to arrive on a scene with them and they do the exact same thing to a lower-scope provider. This hypocrisy is avoidable. Check out the blog at www.FOAMfrat.com