TY - JOUR
T1 - Prehospital Airway Management in Emergency and Trauma Patients
T2 - A Cross-sectional Study of Ambulance Service Providers and Staff in a Low- and Middle-income Country
AU - Ismail, Samina
AU - Zia, Nukhba
AU - Samad, Khalid
AU - Naeem, Rubaba
AU - Ahmad, Haris
AU - Raza, Amir
AU - Baqir, Muhammad
AU - Khan, Uzma Rahim
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2015.
PY - 2015/10/19
Y1 - 2015/10/19
N2 - Background 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. Objective The aim of this study was to assess training and knowledge of ambulance staff and availability of AM equipment in ambulances of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from June through September 2014. Interviews were conducted with management of six ambulance service providers and 165 ambulance staff. Data from the management included availability of AM equipment in the ambulances, number and designation of staff sent for emergency calls, and AM training of staff. Ambulance staff were assessed for their awareness, knowledge, and training pertaining to AM. Results All the ambulance services (A through F) had basic equipment for AM but lacked qualified and trained staff. All services had solo drivers (98.3%) for emergency calls; however, Ambulance Service A also had doctors and paramedics. Only 35.7% (59/165) of ambulance staff had awareness regarding AM, out of which 77.9% (46/59) belonged to Ambulance Service A. Of these 59 staff, 81.4% received some form of AM training. Staff with AM awareness, when assessed for knowledge pertaining to AM steps and AM equipment, had a mean score of 4.7/5 and 8.4/12, respectively. Conclusion 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. Ismail S, Zia N, Samad K, Naeem R, Ahmad H, Raza A, Baqir M, Khan UR.
AB - Background 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. Objective The aim of this study was to assess training and knowledge of ambulance staff and availability of AM equipment in ambulances of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from June through September 2014. Interviews were conducted with management of six ambulance service providers and 165 ambulance staff. Data from the management included availability of AM equipment in the ambulances, number and designation of staff sent for emergency calls, and AM training of staff. Ambulance staff were assessed for their awareness, knowledge, and training pertaining to AM. Results All the ambulance services (A through F) had basic equipment for AM but lacked qualified and trained staff. All services had solo drivers (98.3%) for emergency calls; however, Ambulance Service A also had doctors and paramedics. Only 35.7% (59/165) of ambulance staff had awareness regarding AM, out of which 77.9% (46/59) belonged to Ambulance Service A. Of these 59 staff, 81.4% received some form of AM training. Staff with AM awareness, when assessed for knowledge pertaining to AM steps and AM equipment, had a mean score of 4.7/5 and 8.4/12, respectively. Conclusion 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. Ismail S, Zia N, Samad K, Naeem R, Ahmad H, Raza A, Baqir M, Khan UR.
KW - Airway management
KW - Ambulance services
KW - Low-and middle-income countries
KW - Prehospital care
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84959562092&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S1049023X15005385
DO - 10.1017/S1049023X15005385
M3 - Article
C2 - 26561430
AN - SCOPUS:84959562092
SN - 1049-023X
VL - 30
SP - 606
EP - 612
JO - Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
JF - Prehospital and Disaster Medicine
IS - 6
ER -