The Cyprus Ambulance Service has launched specialised protocols, equipment and crew training for emergencies involving people with autism, with noise-cancelling headphones, visual communication boards and sensory tools to be carried on all frontline ambulances to reduce anxiety and make care safer.
The programme, a partnership between the service, the non-governmental organisation Voice for Autism and Bank of Cyprus’s SupportCY, is already in operation. It covers specialised training for ambulance crews, new equipment and adapted procedures for handling cases.
Loud sirens, flashing lights, the presence of strangers and rapid changes in stimuli can cause intense anxiety or sensory overload in people with autism, making it harder for paramedics to communicate with them and provide care.
Ambulance Service head Riana Konstantinou said the partnership was important in filling a critical gap in emergency care. By understanding the behaviours and sensory sensitivities associated with autism, she said, staff can “reduce anxiety, build trust immediately and provide safer and more effective medical interventions”.
Training and sensory kits
The training gives paramedics techniques for de-escalating sensory overload, alternative ways of communicating and methods of adapting clinical assessment to each patient’s needs. It includes hands-on training with emergency scenarios, and neurodiversity training with the participation of people with autism speaking from their own needs and experience.
The sensory kits will contain noise-cancelling headphones, visual communication boards and calming tactile tools, to be used according to each patient’s needs to limit distressing stimuli and make communication easier.
Workshops for families
Families will be able to attend special training workshops, to be held across Cyprus during November. They will learn what information to give first responders in an emergency, how to prepare an individual emergency profile for the person with autism and how to help keep the environment safer and calmer until the ambulance arrives.
