Effect of the China-America Union Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Training Program on the emergency knowledge and skills of Chinese paramedics.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of the China-America Union Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Training Program (PHEC) on the emergency medical knowledge and skills of Chinese paramedics. METHODS This study was conducted at the Emergency Command Center of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China from June to December 2011. The experimental group of 113 trainees, and the control group of 85 trainees received training in pre-hospital emergency care (PHEC) theory and practice. They were given pre- and post- tests to evaluate their knowledge and skill levels. The training content was the same and the teaching methods, materials and training team in the 2 groups were different. All trainees were tested for emergency knowledge and skills, before and immediately following the training, and also a survey was conducted regarding the effectiveness of the training. T-test was used to measure the difference between the 2 groups. RESULTS The post-test scores for both groups in knowledge and skills were higher than that of the pre-test (p<0.001). The value of difference between the post-test scores of each group in bleeding control, wound care, fracture care and stabilization, and transportation (BWFT) (p<0.001), and intubation (p<0.001) was significantly higher in the experimental group except emergency knowledge, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and arrhythmia treatment (p<0.001). In the survey, 95.6% of the trainees in the experimental group considered the Union Training Program a more effective way to help paramedics learn emergency medical knowledge and skills. CONCLUSION The use of the American standard of PHEC can improve the emergency skills of Chinese paramedics, especially in the areas of BWFT and intubation, and support its use province-wide in an effort to standardize the PHEC medical procedure in China.