Evaluation of Clinical Skills of Emergency Medical Technicians in Jahrom in Caring for Trauma Patients, 2018, (Iran)

Background and Objectives: Today, trauma is a major cause of disability and mortality throughout the world. Since pre-hospital care is the first line of trauma care, thus, proper and desirable care can reduce traumatic injuries. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the clinical skills of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in Jahrom city in the care of trauma patient.   Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, a total of 40 EMTs were selected randomly. The data collection tools were demographic questionnaire and clinical skill checklist containing 9 skills. The validity and reliability of the checklist, were confirmed by Shakeri et al. Data were collected by observing the skills of the EMTs and completing the clinical skills checklist. Data were analyzed using statistical independent t, ANOVA, and regression analysis tests at a significant level of p<0.05.   Results: In this study, 62.50% of EMTs had good clinical skills in trauma care, but obtained poor score in both skills of using traction splint and endotracheal intubation. There was also a significant relationship between variables of age, educational level, EMS station, and number of missions per 24-hour shift and clinical skills in the field of trauma (p<0.05).   Conclusion: The results of this study showed that EMTs of Jahrom city had good clinical skills in caring for trauma patients, but due to the significant difference between the obtained scores and the ideal level, further training in this field seems to be still necessary.