Prehospital and disaster medicine
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Dec 2015
Hospital Nurses' Competencies in Disaster Situations: A Qualitative Study in the South of Brazil.
Introduction Hospital nurses play a key role in the aftermath of the occurrence of disasters and need specific competencies to work in these situations. From a global perspective, few models exist that focus on disaster nursing. ⋯ The competencies identified in this study can contribute to the education and practice of nurses in the hospital ambience, strengthening its capacity to face disaster situations.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Dec 2015
Prehospital Airway Management in Emergency and Trauma Patients: A Cross-sectional Study of Ambulance Service Providers and Staff in a Low- and Middle-income Country.
Prehospital airway management (AM) is the first priority in the care of emergency and trauma victims as it has shown to improve survival in these patients. ⋯ Even though ambulances are equipped with basic equipment, due to lack of trained staff, these ambulances only serve the mere purpose of transportation. There is a need to train ambulance staff and increase ambulance to staff ratio to improve prehospital AM and patient survival.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Dec 2015
Doctor's Knowledge and Practices of Traumatic Brain Injury Management in Chinese Prehospital Settings.
The incidence and mortality of traumatic brain injury (TBI) has increased rapidly in the last decade in China. Appropriate ambulance service can reduce case-fatality rates of TBI significantly. This study aimed to explore the factors (age, gender, education level, clinical experience, professional title, organization, specialty before prehospital care, and training frequency) that could influence prehospital doctors' knowledge level and practices in TBI management in China, Hubei Province. ⋯ This study described the current situation of prehospital TBI management. The prehospital doctors' knowledge level and practices in TBI management were quantified and the influential factors hidden underneath were explored. The results indicated that an appropriate continuing medical education (CME) program enables improvement of the quality of ambulance service in China.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Dec 2015
Observational StudyEmergency Care Capabilities in North East Haiti: A Cross-sectional Observational Study.
The North East Department is a resource-limited region of Haiti. Health care is provided by hospitals and community clinics, with no formal Emergency Medical System and undefined emergency services. As a paucity of information exists on available emergency services in the North East Department of Haiti, the objective of this study was to assess systematically the existing emergency care resources in the region. ⋯ Deficits in the supply of emergency equipment and limited protocols for inter-facility transfers exist in North East Department of Haiti. These essential areas represent appropriate targets for interventions aimed at improving access to emergency care within the North East region of Haiti.
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Prehosp Disaster Med · Dec 2015
Effect of First Aid Education on First Aid Knowledge and Skills of Commercial Drivers in South West Nigeria.
Prompt prehospital care is essential for improving outcomes of road crash victims; however, this service is sub-optimal in developing countries because Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are not readily available. Training of lay responders in first aid has been suggested as a means of filling this gap in settings with inadequate EMS. This study was conducted to determine the effect of first aid training on the first aid knowledge and skills of commercial drivers. ⋯ The training led to significant improvement in first aid knowledge and skills of intervention drivers. This confirms that lay responders can be trained in provision of first aid. The slight drop in skills scores, which occurred three months post-intervention, highlights the need for periodic refresher trainings to be conducted for the drivers in order to maintain the knowledge and skills acquired.