THE PROBLEM OF DISABILITY IN THE ASSESSMENT OF PARAMEDICS

Abstract

The disability problem is an important issue that paramedics also face. Their attitudes and knowledge about this phenomenon may largely depend on the contact they make with a disabled person, and this in turn will be reflected in the activities that will be performed by the rescuer. The very method of collecting medical history is important in further rescue proceedings. The paper presents a variety of aspects in the approach to disability expressed in tests carried out on paramedics. The intention of the authors was to signal the problem of disability and attempt to make a preliminary assessment of the subjective attitudes of medical students towards people with disabilities. This study is a preliminary report, and the leitmotiv of this publication is the willingness to interest the subject of other researchers and to share already available results. Statistical analysis shows that among the causes of disability, the most common are damage and diseases of the musculoskeletal system – 46.5% in second place are cardiovascular diseases – 45.5%, and neurological diseases to which we want to devote broad attention are in third place in this statistical and constitute 23.9%. The study was conducted in May 2019 in a group of 60 students (30 women and 30 men) aged 20-22 attending medical universities in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. The research tool was the author's own survey containing closed questions. Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. The respondents were asked about demographic data: the perception of the disabled, knowledge of problems related to the disabled and ways of supporting the disabled. The results were developed using Microsoft Excel 2010 from the Windows 7 package, using the appropriately available spreadsheet functions. The obtained results justify the careful conclusion that the problem of disability, seen through the eyes of medical university students, is not only noticed but assessed by them. Students very emphatically referred to the problem of disabled people taken up in the article.