Around 20 years ago I had to write the emergency evacuation plan for the pulmonary function lab. Like many other administrative duties I learned that I needed to do this when my new administrator asked where it was and whether I had documented that I had reviewed it with the lab staff. Since I didn’t even have a real procedure manual at the time (just reprints of pertinent articles and textbook chapters) I ended up getting a crash course in writing policies. Fortunately the manager of a nearby departments let me borrow their evacuation plan and I was able quickly to knock one out that met the requirements fairly quickly. Since then I’ve had to review it annually and update it every time the lab moved or when rooms were added or taken away.
Yesterday I was reading the recently published ERS/ATS technical standards for field walking tests (and if you perform 6-minute walk or incremental shuttle tests then you will probably need to read it and update your procedures). One important change has been that because a 6-minute walk test can evoke a VO2 and heart rate response similar to CPETs the same absolute and relative contraindications now apply. For the same reason in the table of equipment required for walking tests along with the stopwatch and pulse oximeter the ERS/ATS standard now includes “An emergency plan”.