European Certification of Interventions in Support of Second Victims

The RESCUE programme encompasses two instruments for the self-assessment and external audit of:

Second Victim Support Interventions (RESCUE-Interventions).
Trained peer supporters for the psychological and emotional guidance of the second victim (RESCUE-Supporters).

RESCUE allows healthcare institutions and teams to assess the quality of structural and human resources to support healthcare professionals who suffer as second victims after a highly stressful event (by ERNST second victim definition ). Certification includes aspects related to the centre's safety culture and institutional policies, the second-victim experience, the structure and functioning of support interventions or the competencies that the professionals trained to provide emotional and psychological first aid to second victims must have.

Vanhaecht K, Seys D, Russotto S, Strametz R, Mira J, Sigurgeirsdóttir S, Wu AW, Põlluste K, Popovici DG, Sfetcu R, Kurt S, Panella M; European Researchers’ Network Working on Second Victims (ERNST). An Evidence and Consensus-Based Definition of Second Victim: A Strategic Topic in Healthcare Quality, Patient Safety, Person-Centeredness and Human Resource Management. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(24):16869. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192416869

RESCUE certification criteria

The RESCUE criteria are based on international standards and recommendations, scientific literature and expert consensus. Before the establishment of this programme, the ERNST consortium (CA19113) has led several studies aimed at identifying the key factors for the successful implementation of second victim support interventions, the contents of patient safety and second victim curricula, the competencies of first responders and the definition of metrics to assess the effectiveness of support interventions.

Each standard includes an operational definition of the measure and the source of information to be consulted to obtain the data necessary for the evaluation of the standard.

Assessment method

The assessment system is based on a mixed procedure combining self-assessment and external audit. In both cases, the assessment will be supported by this online platform, which will guide the steps to be followed and allow the evaluation of each criterion and quality standard to be recorded. The self-assessment will be carried out by the staff of the centre applying for certification. A minimum of xx hours is estimated to be necessary to carry out the self-assessment. The external audit compromises one day or a day and a half, depending on the number of professionals in each centre.