Primum non nocere: first, do no harm

Professional groups, including paramedics, adopt specific values, moral obligations or responsibilities that go beyond the basic duties of the public. In Epidemics, Book 1, Section 11 Hippocrates notes: ‘As to diseases, make a habit of two things—help or at least to do no harm.’ Such sentiment applies to paramedics today as it was applied to the medicine men of yesteryear. Patient safety is a serious global public health issue. Estimates demonstrate that in developed countries as many as one in 10 patients are harmed while receiving hospital care (World Health Organization (WHO), 2016).

Protecting the public and enhancing patient safety is the first concern of the paramedic (Health and Care Professions Council, 2016). Patient safety is a challenge globally and requires knowledge and skills in a number of areas, including human factors and systems, as it does not occur in isolation. The provision of healthcare work and those systems and processes associated with it are complex. There is a growing need for even closer partnerships between the health sciences, human factors and systems required to improve patient safety.