BACKGROUND Elder abuse and neglect are highly under-reported in the United States. This may be partially attributed to low incidence of reporting among emergency medical technicians' (EMTs), despite state-mandated reporting of suspected elder abuse. Innovative solutions are needed to address under-reporting. The objective was to describe EMTs' experience detecting and reporting elder abuse. M...

Objectives Core competencies are considered the foundation for establishing Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and paramedic curricula, and for ensuring performance standards in the delivery of prehospital care. This study surveyed EMT instructors and medical directors to identify the most desirable core competencies for all levels of EMTs in Taiwan. Methods A principal components analysis wi...

Background:  Scene management in accidents reduces losses, speeds treatment, and facilitates immediate victim transfer. Learning the related skills through theory-based educational intervention makes this task possible. This study aimed to determine the effect of theory-based educational intervention on emergency medical personnel skills to manage the scene in chemical accidents. Materials and...

Prehospital ultrasound has been deployed in certain areas of the USA and Europe. Physicians, emergency medical technicians, and flight nurses have utilized a variety of medical and trauma ultrasound assessments to impact patient care in the field. The goal of this review is to summarize the literature on emergency medical services (EMS) use of ultrasound to more clearly define the potential uti...

OBJECTIVES This study utilizes a [US] national sample of emergency medical services (EMS) professionals to explore the hypothesis that demographic and work-related characteristics are associated with involvement in ambulance crashes. METHODS In 2004, a cohort of nationally registered EMS professionals was surveyed to determine ambulance crash involvement during a 12-month period. Involvement ...

Several studies have examined the effect of early defibrillation by basic EMTs on patient survival. Although the studies have a common theme of early basic EMT defibrillation, they are diverse in locations, devices, control groups, caregivers, and protocols. They provide a confusing array of information that is difficult to review, synthesize, and interpret. Metaanalysis allows data pooling of ...

Effective workplace-based interventions after critical incidents (CIs) are needed for emergency medical technicians (EMT)/paramedics. The evidence for a period out of service post-CI (downtime) is sparse; however it may prevent posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and burnout symptoms. We examined the hypothesis that downtime post-CI is associated with fewer symptoms of four long-term emotional...

The Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographics Study (LEADS) provides a representative sampling of EMTs throughout the United States. This study examines the relationship between instructor quality and National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians certification examination outcomes. Results show significant correlations, based on instructor quality on initial exa...