Commonalities of the EMS Education Workforce (2004) in the United States

Abstract

Objectives. The purpose of the State of EMS Education Research Project was to quantify the characteristics of those recognized as EMS instructors, what infrastructure supports exist to facilitate the learning process, andwhat are the attributes andcommon practices embraced by the profession. The collection of EMS education system data will assist in the continued development andimplementation of the EMS Education Agenda for the Future: A Systems Approach. The first phase of the study identified characteristics of the individual educators andtheir workplace. Based on data collected from a national survey of individuals identified as EMS educators.[[]] Phase II of the project utilized a panel of experts to identify common practices in EMS education derived from the data analysis in Phase I. Based on the consensus anddescription of the common practices, a set of recommendations were developed which would facilitate the transition to future curricula designs andeducational delivery methods. Methods. The methods used in this study replicated those used by Witkin andTrochim (1997 as a formalized group-oriented concept mapping process. The concept statements were derived from data generated by Ruple et al.,[[]] which attempted to identify anddescribe the various aspects of the EMS educational process. After a comprehensive listing of the aspects, a reduction andgrouping exercise resulted in the identification of 43 concepts. The unstructured sorting task replicated procedures described by Rosenburg andKim,[[]] Trochim,[[]] andWeller andRomney.[[]] The 13 participants of the technical team (a subset of the task force) were then tasked with individually rating each of the 43 concepts. Cronbach's alpha, as well as, principal component analysis was used to analyze the data andthen concept mapping theory was employed to convert the data into concept statements. After the ratings were generated, the concepts were consolidated andreduced to 21 concept statements. A Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient was computed comparing the rank of the top 10 most important concepts with the frequency of citation by the subgroup members andwas found to be +0.92 [t(18) = 10.08, p < 0.0005]. The technical team's concept ratings were then validated by the full SEERP Task Force consisting of a national panel of experts in EMS education, administration, state regulation andcertification. Conclusions. There is a need to increase the theory andknowledge base of EMS educators, to prepare the infrastructure for change, andto improve evaluation procedures for student performance andoutcomes andthe integration of educational technologies. Integration of resources, development of support systems, coordination of initial andcontinuing education requirements, alliances with professional accreditation services, andpartnership building with other allied health andmedical academic education systems are priorities for improving the working conditions for EMS educators nationally. Recommendations by the panel are the appropriate response to the current condition of the EMS education setting anda basis on which to begin a seamless transition to the vision of the EMS Education Agenda for the Future: A Systems Approach.[[]]