Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak
Background: Prehospital paramedics played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate paramedic performance and background factors in the outbreak of this emerging disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 335 paramedics selected from 49...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Zanjan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services
2024-08-01
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| Series: | Preventive Care in Nursing and Midwifery Journal |
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| Online Access: | http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/article-1-917-en.html |
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| author | Karim Javanmardi Abbas Dadashzadeh Hossein Feizollahzadeh Neda Gilani Mansour Ghafourifard Javad Dehghannejad |
| author_facet | Karim Javanmardi Abbas Dadashzadeh Hossein Feizollahzadeh Neda Gilani Mansour Ghafourifard Javad Dehghannejad |
| author_sort | Karim Javanmardi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Prehospital paramedics played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate paramedic performance and background factors in the outbreak of this emerging disease.
Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 335 paramedics selected from 49 emergency medical services stations in Urmia and Tabriz cities, Iran. Data was collected using a questionnaire to assess the demographics and performance of paramedics in caring for COVID-19 patients. The response rate for the questionnaires was 90%. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis in SPSS version 21. The level of statistical significance was considered less than 0.05.
Results: The average age of the paramedics was 32.81 years (71.3% were 35 years old or younger). Results showed that assessing patients' vital signs, checking for COVID-19 symptoms/signs, administering oxygen and IV fluids, recommending home care, and transporting patients to the emergency department were the most common actions taken by paramedics. Invasive procedures performed by paramedics included cardiopulmonary resuscitation (60.9%), intubation (53.1%), and suctioning (38.8%). However, 15.5% of paramedics reported not performing physical exams on patients due to fear of COVID-19. A statistically significant correlation was observed between paramedics' performance and their education level, educational qualifications, and history of COVID-19 disease (p< 0.001).
Conclusion: Study results provide insight into paramedic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. During emerging disease outbreaks, further training and the provision of necessary personal protective equipment could help paramedics perform all tasks without undue concern for personal safety.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9e24bdccdff04cf5b48ada39b75a610d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2588-4441 2588-445X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-08-01 |
| publisher | Zanjan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Preventive Care in Nursing and Midwifery Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-9e24bdccdff04cf5b48ada39b75a610d2025-02-03T07:31:58ZengZanjan University of Medical Sciences and Health ServicesPreventive Care in Nursing and Midwifery Journal2588-44412588-445X2024-08-0114311010.61186/pcnm.14.3.1Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreakKarim Javanmardi0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5961-968XAbbas Dadashzadeh1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2432-1904Hossein Feizollahzadeh2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5142-109XNeda Gilani3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5399-0277Mansour Ghafourifard4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3771-5152Javad Dehghannejad5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1304-4726MSc in Emergency Nursing, School of Nursing & Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Tabriz, Iran Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing &Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranDepartment of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing &Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranDepartment of Statistics and Epidemiology, Faculty of Health, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranDepartment of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing &Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranDepartment of Medical-Surgical Nursing, School of Nursing &Midwifery, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IranBackground: Prehospital paramedics played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate paramedic performance and background factors in the outbreak of this emerging disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study recruited 335 paramedics selected from 49 emergency medical services stations in Urmia and Tabriz cities, Iran. Data was collected using a questionnaire to assess the demographics and performance of paramedics in caring for COVID-19 patients. The response rate for the questionnaires was 90%. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis in SPSS version 21. The level of statistical significance was considered less than 0.05. Results: The average age of the paramedics was 32.81 years (71.3% were 35 years old or younger). Results showed that assessing patients' vital signs, checking for COVID-19 symptoms/signs, administering oxygen and IV fluids, recommending home care, and transporting patients to the emergency department were the most common actions taken by paramedics. Invasive procedures performed by paramedics included cardiopulmonary resuscitation (60.9%), intubation (53.1%), and suctioning (38.8%). However, 15.5% of paramedics reported not performing physical exams on patients due to fear of COVID-19. A statistically significant correlation was observed between paramedics' performance and their education level, educational qualifications, and history of COVID-19 disease (p< 0.001). Conclusion: Study results provide insight into paramedic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic. During emerging disease outbreaks, further training and the provision of necessary personal protective equipment could help paramedics perform all tasks without undue concern for personal safety. http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/article-1-917-en.htmlcovid-19emergency medical serviceparamedicspre-hospital emergency care |
| spellingShingle | Karim Javanmardi Abbas Dadashzadeh Hossein Feizollahzadeh Neda Gilani Mansour Ghafourifard Javad Dehghannejad Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak Preventive Care in Nursing and Midwifery Journal covid-19 emergency medical service paramedics pre-hospital emergency care |
| title | Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak |
| title_full | Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak |
| title_fullStr | Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak |
| title_short | Assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak |
| title_sort | assessing paramedic performance and background factors in emerging disease outbreak |
| topic | covid-19 emergency medical service paramedics pre-hospital emergency care |
| url | http://nmcjournal.zums.ac.ir/article-1-917-en.html |
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