Providing emergency medical services poses an interesting challenge when charged with maintaining patient belongings.  Often times, it is difficult “out in the field” to insure complete and accurate records of belongings when faced with providing immediate, emergency care.  However, with a little planning, much can be done to minimize losses.

The first factor that is going to affect what you do is the condition of the patient - are they conscious or are they unconscious?  If the patient is conscious, then there is really no need to do anything more than make sure the belongings are maintained with the patient.  However, the patient may wish to turn over belongings to a friend or family member at the scene.  This is certainly appropriate, and should this occur, it needs to be documented in the run report.  If the police are on the scene, then it is suggested that the police officer witness and document this transaction.

However, if the patient is in severe distress, it is unreasonable to conduct an inventory of belongings.  Again, a police officer (if present) should be made aware of the belongings and asked to take responsibility for them. Ambulances should carry a large, durable plastic bag marked “PATIENT BELONGINGS” that can be used to quickly deposit belongings. Then, once the patient arrives at the emergency department, the items collected from the patient can be inventoried. The inventory should be done with two (2) persons present.  The inventory form should be signed by all involved parties (have the patient sign indicating all is present, if possible) with a copy of the signed form placed in the bag (seal the bag and keep with the patient), a copy given to the emergency department staff, and a copy retained by the emergency medical services in their files (filed with their run sheet).

Reward System for Finding Lost Items

No matter how good your system is, items will be reported lost. Of course, any item reported lost should initiate an immediate notification of security, so a report can be made. However, many of the items reported missing are often times misplaced in locations where facility staff may find them.  Any items found should be turned into the department responsible for the facility’s “Lost and Found” and consideration should be given to reward the employee for returning the item. Some facilities have initiated small monetary rewards, while some provide free lunch passes or gift certificates to the gift shop.  The cost of the small reward far outweighs the cost of replacing items (e.g., glasses, dentures, hearing aids, etc.) and pays dividends in promoting customer satisfaction.

Department Charge-Back System

Some facilities submit claims to their insurance carrier for all lost items, some facilities only submit for items over a certain dollar amount, and some facilities opt to absorb all the expenses related to the loss of patient belongings. Whichever practice you follow, the expenses need to be accounted for. 

No matter what the facility does to try and reduce losses from missing patient belongings, the program will fail if there is not cooperation from the involved departments.  One method of gaining department compliance is by implementing a charge-back system; whereby, any lost belongings expenses are deducted from the responsible department’s budget.  Once the department manager realizes monies expended for lost patient belongings are being taken out of their budget, they tend to pay much closer attention in following the recommended procedures.

Abandoned Belongings

A common question is, “How long do you keep unclaimed belongings and what should you do with them?”  The type of unclaimed property will dictate the amount of time necessary for it to be presumed abandoned.  Before rushing to relinquish control of “abandoned” items, every effort should be made to contact the last known owner of the property.  All contact efforts should be well-documented, using tracking methods when possible.  If you are unsuccessful in contacting the last known owner of the property, the items should never be discarded.  Please keep in mind that there are laws concerning abandoned property.  To find out more specific information about abandoned property and reporting requirements, contact:

State of New Jersey

Department of Treasury

Unclaimed Property

Safekeeping Unit

PO Box 446

Trenton, NJ   08695-0446

Customer Service Center: 609-292-6400