How Do You Add a Retrieval Time Field to an Emergency Drill Log?
Published September 23, 2026 · 2 minute read · General information, not legal advice. Your licensing regulators decide what applies to you.
Add a retrieval time field to the drill log that records how long it took, from the start of the drill, to get each critical item into hand: the emergency kit, the relevant protocol page, the escalation page, and the incident report form. It is one of the few measurable, non-clinical numbers a practice can track across drills, and it reveals location and access problems quickly.
Why measure retrieval
Clinical response depends on judgment and training that a drill log does not assess. Retrieval is different. It is purely logistical, and it is often where the first minutes go. A kit that takes three minutes to reach the room is a location or access problem the practice can fix.
How to time it
Start the clock when the scenario is announced. Stop it separately for each item when a person has it in hand at the point of care. Record the times, not an overall pass or fail. A single timer on a phone is enough. The person timing should not also be retrieving.
Get the free Drill Starter
A free print-and-fill file for running one emergency drill and keeping the record that shows it happened: a scenario card, a drill log and a debrief record. It comes by email with the Clinic Opening File, along with each new guide when it publishes.
Sent by Scope & Standard through beehiiv. Every email has an unsubscribe link. See Privacy.
Using the numbers
Compare retrieval times across drills. A time that increases usually means something moved, was locked, or was reorganized. A time that stays long despite practice usually means the item is in the wrong place. Record any change made as a result in the correction log.
No universal target
There is no standard number to hit. The practice decides what it considers acceptable for its own layout and records that decision. What matters is that the time is measured, recorded, and acted on.
What to record
- Drill date and log reference
- Time scenario was announced
- Time kit in hand at point of care
- Time protocol page in hand
- Time escalation page in hand
- Time incident form in hand
- Who retrieved each item
- Changes made as a result
The drill process is in Your Emergency Protocol Is Not a Protocol Until Someone Has Drilled It. Location problems found this way update the emergency kit location record.