Background: Today, the accidents and catastrophes causing trauma are one of the fundamental health needs of industrial world, and also a prevalent cause of mortality, especially in Iran. Thus, pre-hospital and emergency medical system care are considered one of the important factors in an effective trauma system.
Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and clinical skills of emergency medical staff confronting trauma.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, based on the calculated sample size, 79 medical emergency technicians working in Alborz province-wide emergency centers were randomly selected. Data collected were included demographic information, clinical skill checklist, including 9 skills and a written exam. Content validity of the clinical skill checklist has been evaluated and confirmed by 10 professors and specialists. Furthermore, reliability coefficient of all skills was equal to 0.82. The researcher observed the medical emergency personnel skills and then completed the clinical skill checklist. Data were analyzed by SPSS Version 20, and statistical tests including independent t-tests and correlation coefficient of Pearson.
Results: The results of the study indicated that knowledge of technicians in the field of trauma was poor in 5.1%, moderate in 91.1%, and fair in 3.8%. Furthermore, evaluation of trauma skills indicated that 51.9% had high skills and 48.1% moderate skills. Comparing the skill level with the ideal skill levels showed a significant gap in all sub-scales of skills (0.01). Pearson correlation test showed no significant association between knowledge and trauma skills.
Conclusion: Due to the significant distance between scores of the present participants and the optimum level and also given the importance of the work of emergency staff as first responders, it is expected that higher quality education held for all emergency service providers can provide good and high-quality services to help-seekers.
Key words: Trauma; Emergency Medical Services; Accidents
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