By Susmita Bandekar
At Empress EMS, safety is more than a priority, it is the foundation of everything we do. As an organization entrusted with the care of our patients, our employees, our partners, and the communities we serve, we recognize that safe driving is one of the most powerful ways we protect lives, both inside and outside our ambulances.
I am proud to share how our commitment to safety, supported by the Samsara platform, continues to strengthen our culture of accountability, recognition, and continuous improvement across all three of our divisions North, South, and West.
Proactive protection through in-cab intelligence: One of the most transformative aspects of our safety program is Samsara’s real-time, in-cab alert system. Rather than simply recording events after they occur, this technology empowers our crews to correct risks in the moment and, more importantly, to anticipate and avoid them altogether. By surfacing both actual and predicted risks, these alerts give our drivers the opportunity to make safer decisions before a situation escalates. This shift from reactive to predictive safety is precisely how we reduce collisions, protect our people, and always uphold safety.
A comprehensive view of driving behavior: Our safety monitoring is thorough and thoughtfully structured. Every driving event is classified by type ranging from harsh driving, speeding, and distracted driving to traffic sign compliance, collision risk, and policy adherence. Each event is then tracked through a clear status workflow, ensuring that no event goes unaddressed whether it requires coaching, review or recognition. With the ability to view events by context labels, our team can analyze behaviors with precision and tailor our coaching to the real-world conditions our crews face every day.
Recognizing excellence behind the wheel: Data is only meaningful when it inspires action and celebrates achievement. Through Samsara, we generate detailed reports, review year-to-date safe driving behaviors, and identify the exceptional employees who consistently exemplify safe driving. I am delighted to share that we recognized 123 employees for their outstanding safe driving habits across the first and second quarters, with award criteria thoughtfully based on work hours and a weighted average of performance. These honorees represent the very best of Empress EMS professionals whose discipline and dedication set the standard for us all.
Real-time awareness of smarter decisions: One of Samsara’s most valuable features is its live, real-time map on our dashboard. This gives us comprehensive operational overview vehicle locations, current weather conditions, and hazards such as water logging during heavy rains. Our dispatchers rely on this real-time visibility to monitor vehicle status, and we use these insights to guide our crews proactively, keeping them safe as conditions change throughout their shifts.
Our shared commitment:
The success of our safety program reflects the extraordinary people who make it possible: Our drivers, dispatchers, supervisors, and leadership. Together, we are building a culture where safe driving behaviors directly contribute to the well-being of our employees, patients, partners, and communities. I am deeply grateful for the dedication our teams demonstrate every day, and I look forward to continuing this important work together.
Susmita Bandekar, MS, BE, is Risk & Safety Manager for Empress EMS/PatientCare EMS Solutions
