Emergency Service Workers Research Articles

CURRENT ISSUES AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS OF MODERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE WORK OF THE «102 (112)» SERVICE

The work deals with current issues of information provision of the National Police based on a retrospective analysis of literary sources. The use of information technologies in the National Police of Ukraine is a critically important step for increasing the efficiency and transparency of police activities. It can also be added that these technologies ensure the efficiency, speed and completeness of the work of law enforcement agencies. The methodological basis of scientific work is a system of general scientific and special methods of analysis: systematization and generalization (definition of the main categories, their relationship, formation of conclusions and proposals); monographic and system-structural analysis; assessment and situational; graphic (visualization of theoretical research results); factor analysis; expert and tabular analyses. The object of the research is modern digital call-centers on the example of Call Way and AVAYA, as a component of the information support of the national police in the services of the «102» and «112» lines. The subject of the research is the theoretical, scientific and methodological provisions and applied aspects of effective formation of the work of emergency services, information support of the national police in the services of the «102» and «112» lines. It was found that the use of modern digital technologies can significantly increase the efficiency and quality of service to citizens in emergency situations. Modern digital call centers were analyzed by the evaluation-situational method using the example of Call Way and AVAYA. Prospective directions for the development of the automation of the «102 (112)» service have been determined, namely the introduction of voice recognition; use of artificial intelligence (AI); expansion of communication channels; introduction of video calls; data analysis for forecasting; integration with other security systems; application of augmented reality (AR); ensuring mobility; reliability and data protection; creation of interactive instructions, which will become a perspective for further research in this direction.

The Relationship Between Locus of Control, Perceived Organizational Support and Job Satisfaction in Emergency Service Workers

With this study we provide conclusive evidence on the importance of locus of control and organizational support provided by bosses/colleagues in the workplace for optimal satisfaction and adaptation of emergency department employees. Thus, employees who have a high level of externality (have an externalist orientation) dimension of locus of control, as well as a high level of perceived organizational support from their managers and/or colleagues, will more frequently have higher levels of specific job satisfaction and general job satisfaction. The mentioned personality characteristics, together with other characteristics, can become predictors used in the process of psychological assessment for selection purposes to predict adaptation at work. In this sense, from the data obtained it can be seen that the variation in generic job satisfaction can be explained in 12.6% by the perceived organizational support variable, and the variation in specific job satisfaction can be explained in 63.4% by the externality variable, as a dimension of locus of control.

Evaluation of anxiety and hopelessness levels in emergency service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey

Background/Aim: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant threat to the lives of individuals, particularly frontline healthcare workers. This brought about negative emotions, such as anxiety and hopelessness. Despite the existence of research evaluating psychiatric symptoms among healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study is also significant in terms of evaluating and emphasizing the common negative emotions experienced by frontline healthcare workers during the pandemic. This study aimed to evaluate anxiety and hopelessness levels in emergency service workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and to examine these levels in terms of specific variables. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among emergency service healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and healthcare officers working in a training and research hospital from July 10 to August 10, 2020 during the pandemic. Participants completed a survey that included a sociodemographic information form, the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS). A total of 135 personnel without a history of psychiatric illness or use of psychiatric medication were included in the study. Results: Of the 135 participants in the study, 67 were female, and 68 were male. The mean state anxiety score for all participants was 44.5 (12.6), trait anxiety score was 44.2 (7.3) and hopelessness score was 7.1 (5.2). It was found that the anxiety of emergency service workers during the pandemic was at a moderate level and their hopelessness was at a mild level. In the study, higher scores were found in hopelessness and state-trait anxiety measurements in married individuals compared to single participants (P=0.040, P=0.003, P=0.001, respectively). Trait anxiety scores were significantly higher among those with chronic diseases compared to those without chronic diseases, and in those living with families compared to those living alone (P=0.039 and P=0.017, respectively). A positive and moderate relationship was observed between hopelessness levels and state-trait anxiety levels (P<0.001 for all, r=0.457, r=0.425, respectively). Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased levels of anxiety and hopelessness were detected among healthcare workers in emergency services. It was observed that as the working time in the emergency department increased, hopelessness and state anxiety levels of the employees also increased.

Assessing the association between probable posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and quality of life among emergency service workers using path analysis.

Emergency service workers have highly stressful occupations; the stressors encountered can contribute to the development of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study used a conceptual model and survey to identify variables influencing the association between probable PTSD and quality of life (QOL) in emergency service workers. PTSD was assessed using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised. QOL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. Path analysis was used to determine whether stress-coping (Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced [Brief COPE] scores), social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support [MSPSS] scores), and resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale scores) explain the association between probable PTSD and QOL among 220 emergency service workers in Japan. Impact of Event Scale-Revised scores were significantly positively associated with Brief COPE Active coping scores and significantly negatively associated with MSPSS scores. Brief COPE Active coping and MSPSS scores were significantly positively associated with Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale scores, which were in turn significantly positively associated with Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey scores. Active coping in response to stressful situations is important for maintaining good mental health among emergency service workers. Active coping and social support may strengthen resilience, and resilience may improve QOL. Screening for mental health and QOL should include simultaneous assessment of stress-coping, social support, and resilience. Although the findings of this cross-sectional study are important, it could not confirm a causal relationship between PTSD and QOL.

Supporting emergency service workers to cope with critical incidents that can lead to psychological burden at work - developing skills in the Post Critical Incident Seminar: a qualitative interview study.

Emergency service workers face critical incidents causing psychological burden. This qualitative study investigates how attending a Post Critical Incident Seminar could affect the skills of emergency service workers to overcome incidents that can cause psychological burden at work and their consequences with the following research questions: (1) How did attending the Post Critical Incident Seminar impact the skills to overcome work incidents that can lead to psychological burden? and (2) How have these skills been manifested since attending the Post Critical Incident Seminar? The data consists of individual interviews with fifteen emergency services workers who attended a Post Critical Incident Seminar in April 2021 in Finland. The interviews were conducted six months after the Post Critical Incident Seminar and analysed using inductive content analysis. The results of the first research question formed two main categories: improved performance abilities and improved self-regulation abilities. From the results of the second research question two main categories were created: new kind(s) of well-being and readiness to help. Several upper categories and sub-categories were discovered. Based on the results, attending a Post Critical Incident Seminar may be effective in developing skills to overcome critical incidents that can lead to psychological burden. Further follow-up studies should investigate how acquired skills from the Post Critical Incident Seminar practically affect emergency service workers and their well-being in the longer term.

СВЕРТОЧНАЯ НЕЙРОСЕТЕВАЯ МОДЕЛЬ АКУСТИЧЕСКОГО ОБНАРУЖЕНИЯ АВАРИЙНО-СПАСАТЕЛЬНЫХ МАШИН

This article solves the problem of developing a neural network model for the acoustic detection of rescue vehicles. To solve this problem, it is proposed to use the mathematical apparatus of convolutional neural networks. Emergency vehicles such as ambulances, fire engines and police vehicles play an important role in life-threatening situations. Timely response is a key factor in the work of emergency services, which confirms the relevance of developing a neural network to solve the problem. The development of a convolutional neural network model required solving the following problems: searching and preparing initial data for analysis, selecting the necessary libraries for software implementation of the neural network, building an architecture, training, testing and assessing the adequacy of the neural network model. The “Emergency Vehicle Siren” data set from the public Kaggle Datasets database was used as the initial data for building the model. The data is presented in the form of a set of audio recordings of the sound of sirens of ambulances, fire trucks and city traffic noise, with 200 examples of each class. The data has been prepared for analysis. Training, validation and test samples were formed. The volume of the training sample was 384 audio recordings, the validation sample was 96, and the test sample was 120. The following libraries were selected for training the convolutional neural network: Librosa (for analyzing and processing audio data), NumPy (for working with multidimensional data arrays), Matplotlib (for creating graphs, charts, histograms and other forms of data visualization), Seaborn (for creating statistical graphs built on the basis of the Matplotlib library), TensorFlow (for machine learning) and Keras (for interacting with artificial neural networks). The architecture of a neural network was built, consisting of three convolution layers, three subsampling layers and a fully connected part responsible for classification and consisting of two layers. A neural network model was trained in the Kaggle notebook environment. Training was carried out for 50 epochs. The accuracy of the neural network model on the training data set was 99.22%, on the validation set - 93.75%. To assess the adequacy of the constructed neural network model, a test data sample was used. The classification accuracy for data from this sample was 99.17%. The results obtained indicate the effectiveness of the constructed convolutional neural network model and the possibility of its practical use for automating the solution of the problem of acoustic detection of rescue vehicles.

PREPARATION OF FUTURE TEACHERS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF A SAFE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT IN THE CONDITIONS OF MARTIAL LAW

Creating a secure educational environment is a crucial factor in shaping a well-rounded individual who feels comfortable, at ease, and engaged in the process of acquiring new knowledge. Providing an appropriate environment for children of primary school age is characterized by supporting their mental and physical health and well-being, responsibility, values, and benevolence. The task of future teachers of primary education is to ensure conditions in the educational environment that prevent manifestations of violence, aggression, bullying, bullying, limitations, etc. Training future primary school teachers to create a safe educational environment under martial law is characterized by the assimilation of knowledge, the formation of skills and abilities to act in emergency situations, respond in time to danger, psychologically adjust children to optimistic motives, inform them about the rules for handling dangerous and suspicious objects, on evacuation and air alert actions. The article highlights the factors affecting the organization of a safe educational environment. It was found that in the conditions of martial law, the future teacher must be aware and ready to act during the «Air alarm» signal, evacuation, staying in a storage or shelter, the use of various types of weapons (chemical, biological), radiation threat, fire, building collapse, detection of explosive objects, and provision of pre-medical and psychological assistance to children. In the author's opinion, the content of professional training of future teachers should include educational disciplines, innovative forms and methods that will help to understand the peculiarities of organizing a safe educational environment, which will allow them to be responsible in their own professional activities in the future. In order to increase the level of readiness to consciously treat the organization of a safe educational environment during the training of future teachers, it is worth holding thematic events, trainings, organizing meetings with emergency services workers, psychologists and medical specialists, etc. The direction of future research is shaped by an examination of the professional preparation of prospective primary education teachers to foster a secure educational environment within the framework of an inclusive educational setting.

Line managers and extreme work: a case study of human resource management in the police service

There are some professionals whose work is always prone to extremes; emergency service workers would fit in to this category. These extremes, however, have typically been short-term aspects of the role punctuated by long periods of normality. This article examines the experiences of line managers in an Australian police service facing pressures both internal and external to the organisation that make extreme working conditions the norm rather than the exception. We use data from forty-seven managers in The Police Service supported by illustrative diary study data to examine their experiences in times of significant change. Our results reveal extreme work resulting from human resource management system out of sync with changes in the expectations of society and media, technological advances in surveillance and social media access and use and an increase volume of ‘extreme’ weather events.

Automating the external placement of symbols for point features in situation maps for emergency response

ABSTRACT In this article, we address the time-critical work of emergency services in the field of disaster and emergency response. Aiming at saving valuable human and time resources during emergency operations, we present one exact and one heuristic approach for the automatic placement of tactical symbols in situation maps. Such maps are used to establish situational awareness and to convey mission-relevant information to emergency personnel. Usually, the information is communicated through the visualization of descriptive symbols which are predominantly placed in a manual process. We automate this process based on an established map layout used by emergency services in Germany that distributes the symbols to the map boundaries. Following general principles and observations from existing literature, we formalize the symbol placement as an optimization problem. We take into account the relevance of tactical symbols as well as short and crossing-free leaders and allow the grouped representation of symbols of similar semantics and spatially close map locations. In experiments with real-world data, we determine a balance between the optimization criteria and show that our heuristic generates high-quality results in less than a second. In an assessment by an expert, we get confirmation that our maps are suitable for use in emergency scenarios.

Exploring factors associated with paramedic work-related psychological injury through data linkage

Introduction: In comparison to the general population and other emergency services workers, paramedics experience high rates of work-related psychological injury. However, there is limited understanding of the case and practitioner-related factors that increase the risk of psychological injury among these workers. This paper aims to identify case and practitioner-related factors associated with paramedic work-related psychological injury in Victoria, Australia, through data linkage. Methods: Data linkage of 7,223 paramedic injury reports with electronic patient care records, and paramedic demographic data from the single state-wide ambulance service in Victoria, Australia – Ambulance Victoria. Injuries reported between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2020 were included. Factors associated with paramedic psychological injury were assessed using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 4,641 (64%) injury reports were successfully linked, of which, 244 (5%) were psychological injuries. Shift hours between 0401 and 0800 (AOR 1.83; 95%CI: 1.12–2.97), cardiac arrest or deceased patient attendances (AOR 2.15; 95%CI: 1.06–4.34), hospital or medical center case locations (AOR 2.44; 95%CI: 1.22–4.91), and Priority 0 (AOR 2.27; 95%CI: 1.26–4.09), Priority 2 (AOR 1.56; 95%CI: 1.04–2.33), and Priority 3 (AOR 1.95; 95%CI: 1.15–3.32) dispatch codes were associated with increased odds of psychological injury. Increasing patient age (AOR 0.98; 95%CI: 0.97–0.99), and the absence of other emergency services on scene (AOR 0.50; 95%CI: 0.34–0.72) were associated with decreased odds of paramedic psychological injury. Conclusions: This is the first study to collectively examine and identify EMS case and practitioner-related characteristics associated with paramedic psychological injury through data linkage of EMS agency-level data sources. Practical application: The findings of this study highlight the dispatch case characteristics that may increase the risk of a paramedic sustaining a work-related psychological injury, and consequently facilitate the early identification, intervention, and support of the individuals most at risk.

Returning to Normal Life after Deployment: What Can Emergency Response Organizations Learn from the Military?

Introduction:Emergency service workers are confronted with serious risks for their health, well-being and functioning. In order to prevent consequences to them and their families, emergency organizations should provide optimal support after an intensive period of employment. In many countries, the military pays special attention to the transition of their personnel from deployment to home via post-deployment adaptation programs (PDAPs). The objective of this presentation is to provide a structured analysis of the military approach to post-deployment adaptation and to identify potential lessons for emergency services.Method:A systematic literature search was performed to find original peer-reviewed studies on PDAP in six databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PTSDPubs, and OpenGrey). The overall risk of bias of the articles was assessed using GRADE guidelines. The literature was analyzed guided by a program evaluation framework entailing different domains.Results:The search resulted in 1535 unique records that were screened for eligibility; 16 articles were included, of which only three showed low risk of bias. Most articles describe some form of third location decompression (N = 10) and also some agreement exists on how to adapt skills and cognitions after deployment (Battlemind; N = 4). The results suggest positive mental health effects and satisfaction of these elements.Conclusion:Empirical, high-quality evidence for PDAP is scarce. In addition, the existing literature reveals a lack of systematic method in describing the goals of PDAP and the ways of achieving these. Nevertheless, this study reveals promising elements that are in line with international guidelines, such as minimizing the level of exposure, intervention delivery and adjustment issues. We discuss how future research should incorporate these elements using a systematic approach.

The Relationship Between Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Levels and Eating Behavior in Emergency Service Workers.

Introduction It is seen that shift work causes various biological, psychological, and behavioral problems in individuals. This studyaimed to determine the eating attitudes and behaviors of health workers working in shifts in a stressful environment such as the emergency service and to examine the relationship between depression, anxiety, and stress levelsand eating behaviors (emotional eating, restrictive eating, and external eating) in terms of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Material and Methods Sociodemographic data form; Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS); and Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ) were used. The study sample consisted of 92 employees (doctor, nurse, emergency medical technician (EMT), medical secretary, and security, staff) who were actively on duty in the emergency department of Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat UniversityMedical Faculty Training and Research Hospital. Results In our study, when the eating behavior of emergency service workers was evaluated in terms of "emotional, external, and restricted eating" sub-dimensions,depression (p=0.043), anxiety (p=0.017), increased stress levels (p=0.002), being female (p=0.022), nurse-emergency medical technician profession (p=0.001), working in 24-hour shifts (p=0.001), and diet history (p=0.013) were associated with "emotional eating."In addition, an increase in depression levels (p=0.048), being single (p=0.015), working in 24-hour shifts (p=0.005), a decrease in age (p<0.001) with "extrinsic eating,"an increase in body mass index (BMI) (p=0.020) and waist circumference (p=0.049), and diet history (p<0.001) were associated with "restricted eating." Conclusions In our study, among the sociodemographic factors, being female, being single, working in 24-hour shifts, diet history, nurse-EMT profession, and undergraduate education level were found to increase the tendency to develop eating behavior problems. An increase in depression levels, being single, working in 24-hour shifts, and a decrease in age were associated with "extrinsic eating."There is a correlation between depression, anxiety, and stress scores and emotional eating scores. Additionally, we found significant correlations between body mass index, waist circumference, diet history, and restricted eating scores. In the approach to eating behavior problems, it is important to determine the individual eating behavior disorder. Due to the increased risk of eating behavior disorder in those who work in long shifts such as 24 hours, it will be possible to organize work programs and increase the quality of service.

After school: Volunteering in community emergency services and substance use among Israeli adolescents

AbstractVolunteering can serve as a protective factor against substance abuse. Yet, it is unclear whether volunteering in specific community organizations, such as emergency services, promotes or protects against substance use. We aimed to (1) describe community volunteering characteristics among adolescents; (2) investigate differences in the prevalence of substance use according to community volunteering type; and (3) determine whether volunteering type was a predictor of substance use. We analyzed data from the 2018–2019 Health Behavior in School‐aged Children survey among Israeli adolescents aged 11–17 years (N = 3972). Most participants (N = 2452; 61.7%) did not volunteer at all, 27.1% (N = 1077) volunteered in youth movements/councils, and 11.2% (N = 443) volunteered in community emergency services. In comparison to the emergency services group, there was a higher volunteering frequency among the youth movements/councils group. Of the three groups (nonvolunteering, volunteering in youth movements/councils, and volunteering in community emergency services), those in the community emergency services group reported a significantly higher prevalence of weekly alcohol use, lifetime cannabis use, and new psychoactive drug use, while no significant between‐group differences were observed in smoking tobacco prevalence. Volunteering in the community emergency services has been linked to substance use, requiring the development of intervention programs by the school staff, before their active volunteering (e.g., guidance on emotional stress and substance abuse). Also, teachers can act as a protective factor for students, and identify emotional distress and anxiety in their students to prevent substance abuse. Furthermore, emergency services workers and instructors should also be aware of the higher risk of substance use among volunteering youth and should be given tools to better collaborate with parents and teachers in dealing with it.

Legal regulation of an emergency lane creation during a traffic accident: international experience

The article is devoted to the analysis of the experience of such countries as Germany, India, Austria, the USA, Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Canada in the field of legal regulation of the creation of an emergency lane on roads during traffic accidents.&#x0D; Emergency and rescue services, ambulance, fire protection, police are important components of providing emergency assistance during a traffic accident.&#x0D; The efficiency of emergency services, which must reach the scene of a traffic accident in a short period of time, in addition to subjective factors (the driver's psychological unreadiness/unwillingness to give priority to the vehicle), is significantly affected by the flaws of the road transport infrastructure, but the most - by a large number of vehicles causing numerous traffic jams. The problem of an emergency lane creation during traffic accidents is extremely relevant to rescuing victims.&#x0D; It is proved that the emergency lanes on the roads almost double the probability of avoiding fatal consequences caused by traffic accidents.&#x0D; By definition, the emergency lane is a free lane on the road intended for vehicles with priority. Such vehicles include: ambulances, firetrucks, police vehicles, tow trucks.&#x0D; Since the procedure and specifics of the emergency lane creation in foreign countries are fixed in legislation provided by the Traffic Rules or other normative legal acts, drivers may be sentenced to the following types of punishment for non-compliance: fine, penalty points, deprivation of a driver's license, imprisonment.&#x0D; Global experience suggests that the issues with the emergency lane creation and compliance monitoring should be regulated by the state bodies. Such approach contributes to the strict compliance with the traffic rules and therefore to the efficient and timely work of emergency and rescue services, ambulances, fire brigades, traffic police, etc.

Design, development and randomised controlled trial protocol of a smartphone-delivered version of ‘SOLAR’ for emergency service workers to manage stress and trauma

IntroductionEmergency service workers are routinely exposed to stress and trauma, and there is a need to address mental health symptoms early to prevent chronic impairment and/or psychiatric disorder. Digital health...

Depression, Anxiety, and Traumatic Stress Symptoms among Emergency Service Workers in Finland after a Post-Critical Incident Seminar—A Pilot Study

Emergency service workers encounter potentially traumatic incidents as part of their normal work duties. They are, therefore, at an increased risk of symptoms of poor mental health. In the past, post-critical incident seminars (PCIS) were offered to police officers in Finland who had suffered mental health consequences from a critical incident at work. Recently, the same seminar has been offered to emergency service workers in Finland. In this pilot study, the effects of PCIS on the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress are tentatively mapped using self-assessment inventories. Fifteen emergency service workers who attended a PCIS in April 2021 filled out the inventories at the beginning of the PCIS and one, three, and six months after the PCIS. All symptoms measured in this study (depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress) decreased after the PCIS, but the clearest decrease was observed in traumatic stress symptoms. Future similar research should use a control group and a larger sample, track mental health symptom scores over a longer period, and compare qualitative and quantitative data to contribute to a richer understanding of this issue.

An online mental health informed physical activity intervention for emergency service workers and their families: A stepped-wedge trial.

Emergency service workers are at risk of experiencing poor mental health due to repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events. Promoting healthy lifestyle factors may help improve health outcomes and quality of life among this population. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a 10-week physical activity (PA) and diet programme delivered via Facebook for sedentary emergency service workers and their support partners on levels of psychological distress. We delivered a 10-week intervention via a private Facebook group facilitated by exercise physiologists, a dietitian and peer-facilitators. Weekly education modules and telehealth calls were delivered, and participants were provided with a PA tracking device (Fitbit accelerometer). A stepped-wedge design was applied to compare levels of psychological distress (K6) during baseline, to intervention by comparing slopes of change. Secondary pre-post outcomes included mental health symptoms, PA, quality of life, social support to exercise, sleep quality and suicidal ideation. In total, N=90 participants (n=47 emergency service workers and n=43 support partners) were recruited in 4 cohorts (aged 42.3±11.5 years, 51% male). Levels of psychological distress did not change significantly during the baseline (control) slope and reduced significantly during the first 6 weeks of intervention (intervention slope 1). The slopes were significantly different, b=-0.351, p = 0.003 (i.e. the trajectories of change) and improvements plateaued until follow up. Retention was high (92%) and improvements in mental health symptoms, minutes of PA, sedentary time and quality of life were significant. Our intervention delivered via social media is feasible and associated with reduced levels of psychological distress among emergency service workers and support partners. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN): 12619000877189.

EVALUATION OF CLINICAL AND LABORATORY RESULTS OF PATIENTS DIAGNOSED URINARY CALCULI IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Aim: In this study, we examined the factors affecting the rate of urine culture positivity and the rate of urine culture positivity in patients who were found to have kidney stones in the emergency department and were followed up by the Urology outpatient clinic. We evaluated the examinations and treatments of these patients with the results of the urology outpatient clinic until the urine culture results were obtained. We think that our study will provide useful information to emergency service workers in the evaluation of patients with urinary system stones. Material and method: In this study, patients who applied to Emergency Medicine Department of İnönü University Faculty of Medicine between January 1st, 2016 and November 1st, 2022, who were diagnosed with urinary calculi by imaging and who were followed up in the Urology outpatient clinic, were retrospectively analyzed. The age and gender of the patients, as laboratory tests, complete blood count, urinalysis, serology and urine culture results were examined. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed with all the parameters obtained from our study and the analysis was statistically significant according to the Hosmer and Lemeshow test. Results: In our study, there were a total of 349 patients, 99 (28.37%) female and 250 (71.63%) male, and a pathogenic microorganism growth was observed in the urine culture of 40 (11.7%) of the patients. The first two microorganisms most frequently encountered in urine culture were Escherichia Coli (24/40) and Klebsiella spp. (5/40). In the logistic regression model, nitrite positivity increased 48.8%, urinary white blood cells increased 0.2%, bacteria presence in urine 3.06%, and increased patient age increased the probability of culture positivity by 2.6%. Each 1 unit increase in hemoglobin value decreased the probability of positive urine culture by 27.8%. Conclusion: The leukocyte count, bacteria presence, nitrite positivity, low blood hemoglobin and advancing advanced age in the complete expulsion examination of a patient with urinary system stone are the prediction of a positive ejection result. These data should be considered in the decision to take the culture of dissemination at the time of death of patients with urinary tract stones or the management of care during the time until they reach the respiratory tract.

EFFECT OF COVID-19 ON EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKERS

Introduction:&#x0D; Healthcare professionals have been of the fight against the pandemic, continued for more than a year. The anxiety levels of healthcare workers due to increased workload, social isolation, fear of catching COVID-19, etc. have increased significantly. The aim of this study is to determine the anxiety levels of emergency service workers who are always at the forefront of the fighting against the pandemic in Turkey.&#x0D; Methods:&#x0D; A questionnaire containing demographic information and the questions of 2 different scales (generalized anxiety disorder-7 scale, coronavirus anxiety scale), whose validation and reliability were performed in Turkey, was delivered via the web to the emergency room workers.&#x0D; Results:&#x0D; Personnel working in the emergency service of a tertiary state hospital, 74% were reached. On the generalized anxiety scale, 53% of the participants received a score of 11 or above (severe anxiety). While the mean values of the generalized anxiety scale in the income and education groups showed a statistically significant correlation, the anxiety mean scores of those with less than 2 years of employment were found to be statistically significantly lower, and the anxiety mean scores of those who had covid-19 during the pandemic were found to be statistically significantly higher. This was found to be related to those with high anxiety and covid-related anxiety scores not wanting to work in the emergency service.&#x0D; Conclusion:&#x0D; As a result of the study, it was revealed emergency service workers have a high level of anxiety originating from pandemics, regardless of their seniority, age, and gender.

The effect of the emergency service work environment on the patient safety attitudes of nurses

Background A safe working environment in the health sector contributes significantly to employee and patient safety and supports positive patient outcomes. Nurses play an important role in improving the healthcare quality related to patient safety practices. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the emergency service work environment on nurses’ patient safety attitudes. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in the emergency departments of 15 tertiary public hospitals and university hospitals in Izmir, Turkey. 288 nurses who worked 6 months or more in emergency departments were included in the sample. The personal information form, safety attitudes questionnaire, and work environment scale were used in the data collection. Results The total mean score for the safety attitudes questionnaire was 136.69 ± 22.14, and the total mean score for Work Environment Scale was 84.51 ± 12.02. A positive correlation was detected between the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire total score and Work Environment Scale total score ( r = 0.38, p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion The patient safety attitudes of the emergency room nurses were moderately positive, the nurses evaluated the working environment positively, and positive work environments affected patient safety attitudes positively.