Knowledge, Attitudes and Skills of Emergency Healthcare Workers in Pandemic with Simulated Case

Abstract

Abstract Background Pandemic is a major global health threat in the present and the future as in the past. As Pre-Hospital Emergency Healthcare Workers (PHE-HCW) are at the front-line of pandemic, they should be well-equipped. The study was aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and skills of PHE-HCW about pandemic preparedness. Methods This cross-sectional study conducted on 202 PHE-HCW selected by random sampling in Eskisehir. Of 40.6% the study group consisted of paramedic graduates of associate degree and 59.4% of emergency medical technicians (EMT) graduated from vocational high schools. A total of 111 cases were developed using the template of events for applied and critical healthcare simulation. The green (minor injuries), yellow (non-life-threatening injuries) and red (life-threatening injuries) coded COVID-19 positive cases were used to evaluate the simulated case scores of each participant. Each scenario consists of 6 steps (infection control measures, patient history-examination, medical treatment, diagnosis, communication, and delivering the patient to the healthcare institution) and 20 questions (min:0, max:40 points). The score that could be obtained according to the number of questions in the steps was standardized. Results Of 62.4% the study group was female and the mean age (SD) was 29.2 (5.5). The mean score (SD) that the study group had from the cases was 28.5 (5.6) in a green cases, 28.9 (5.6) in yellow cases, and 25.7 (6.5) in red cases.The mean score was lower in the red cases. Male than female (p = 0.001), paramedics than EMTs (p = 0.009) and those with 2-3 years of working time than those with one year of working time scored higher (p = 0.023). None of the participants obtained a full score in any of the steps, the highest score step was infection control measures (1.56), while the lowest score was medical treatment (1.27). Conclusions PHE-HCW have deficiencies at all steps, most notably at the medical treatment step. Key messages Pre-hospital healthcare workers’ pre-graduate education and professional experiences have an positive impact on their knowledge, attitudes and skills regarding the pandemic. In order to increase the pandemic preparedness in pre-hospital healthcare workers intensive training should be given in the first year of their professional life and its continuity should be provided.