With evidence-based practice now the norm, paramedics today can confidently and readily search for answers to clinical questions. For anyone seeking to better understand the non-clinical aspects of ...paramedic practice, however, looking to social theory can be a starting point. Understanding social theory gives paramedic researchers a lens through which to closely examine every day events and behaviours that affect paramedic practice within the context of society. Arguably, the move towards professionalisation is one of the most significant events impacting paramedicine today. Alongside this professional evolution, the practitioner identity is gradually being challenged and reshaped, raising a number of important questions. The purpose of this article is to explore how paramedic researchers can use two prominent social theorists, Bourdieu and Goffman, to explore inevitable questions related to professions and professional identity.
The Southern Region burn disaster plan Barillo, David J; Dimick, Alan R; Cairns, Bruce A ...
Journal of burn care & research,
2006 Sep-Oct, 2006-09-00, 20060901, Letnik:
27, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
A regional burn disaster plan for 24 burn centers located in 11 states comprising the Southern Region of the American Burn Association was developed using online and in-person collaboration between ...burn center directors during a 2-year period. The capabilities and preferences of burn centers in the Southern Region were queried. A website with disaster information, including a map of regional burn centers and spreadsheet of driving distances between centers, was developed. Standard terminology for burn center capabilities during disasters was defined as open, full, diverting, offloading, or returning. A simple, scalable, and flexible disaster plan was designed. Activation and escalation of the plan revolves around the requirements of the end user, the individual burn center director. A key provision is the designation of a central communications point colocated at a burn center with several experienced burn surgeons. In a burn disaster, the burn center director can make a single phone call to the communications center, where a senior burn surgeon remote from the disaster can contact other burn centers and emergency agencies to arrange assistance. Available options include diversion of new admissions to the next closest center, transfer of patients to other regional centers, or facilitation of activation of federal plans to bring burn care providers to the affected burn center. Cooperation between regional burn center directors has produced a simple and flexible regional disaster plan at minimal cost to institute or operate.
Abstract only Introduction: The Emergency Medical Stroke Assessment (EMSA) is a six point stroke severity scale with one point each for gaze preference, facial droop, arm drift, leg drift, abnormal ...naming, and abnormal repetition that was developed to help emergency medical services (EMS) providers identify acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO). We hypothesized that the EMSA would detect left hemisphere LVO with a higher sensitivity than right hemisphere LVO. Methods: We trained 24 trauma system-based emergency communication center (ECC) paramedics in the EMSA. ECC-guided EMS in performance of the EMSA on patients with suspected stroke. We compared the sensitivity, specificity, area under the curve (AUC), and 95% confidence interval (CI) of ECC-guided prehospital EMSA for right versus left hemisphere ICA or M1 occlusion. Results: We enrolled 569 patients from September 2016 through February 2018, out of which 236 had a discharge diagnosis of stroke and 173 had a diagnosis of AIS. We excluded patients with bilateral (n=21) and brainstem (n=21) AIS. There were 64 patients with left hemisphere AIS including 19 with LVO. There were 67 patients with right hemisphere AIS including 22 with LVO. A score of ≥ 4 points yielded a sensitivity of 84.2 (95% CI = 60.4-96.6) and specificity of 66.7 (51.1-80.0) for left hemisphere LVO compared to a sensitivity of 68.2 (45.1-86.1) and specificity of 73.9 (58.9-85.7) for right hemisphere LVO. For predicting a left hemisphere LVO, the AUC was 0.77 (0.65-0.90) compared to 0.66 (0.50-0.82) for right-sided LVO. Assigning 2 points for abnormal gaze yielded an AUC of 0.78 (0.66-0.91) versus 0.67 (0.52-0.83) for left and right hemisphere LVO, respectively. Conclusions: The EMSA, like the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) upon which it is based, is more sensitive to left compared to right hemisphere LVO. More heavily weighting abnormal gaze did not improve the sensitivity of the EMSA for right hemisphere LVO. There is no comparable data on the right versus left hemisphere performance of other prehospital scales. There is a need to develop sensitive tests of right hemisphere dysfunction that are suitable for use in the field.
Introduction
British Columbia Emergency Health Service trialled the use of intranasal (IN) ketamine given by Primary Care Paramedics (PCPs). Prior to this practice change, the PCPs had not performed ...weight-based drug calculations, given medications intranasally, nor been responsible for controlled and targeted substances. This study aimed to use the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model and Theoretical Domain Framework (TDF) to identify enablers and barriers to implementing IN paramedic administered ketamine analgesia (iPAKA) for PCPs.
Methods
This was a parallel convergent mixed methods study with two phases. The quantitative phase consisted of longitudinal staff surveys to assess PCP knowledge and perceptions of ketamine and controlled and targeted substances policies. The qualitative phase involved staff focus groups on programme implementation. Descriptive statistics of survey results were integrated with coded focus group data and analysed using the COM-B model and TDF. Evidence-based behavioural change techniques were mapped to each TDF domain.
Findings
Our analysis revealed barriers and enablers across several TDF domains. Implementing ketamine was enabled by quality education, strong organisational support and the availability of cognitive aides. Trial success was attributed in part to participant's feelings of optimism and their increased job satisfaction. Key barriers included a knowledge gap involving drug dosage calculations, negative emotions associated with performance anxiety and a lack of field education and supervision to monitor paramedic practice.
Conclusion
The use of theoretical frameworks and models like COM-B/TDF serves to improve the sustainable implementation of behaviour and clinical practice change in paramedicine. When project teams use theory to guide design and implementation, they can systematically identify and target individual and organisational enablers and barriers to adopting routine practices. The iPAKA study reveals key barriers and facilitators in several TDF domains and presents theory-linked targeted behavioural techniques to support on-going implementation of PCP-administered IN ketamine for analgesia.
Abstract only Introduction: There is need for sustainable models of effective prehospital stroke triage. Goal: Prospectively validate communication center guided prehospital identification of stroke ...patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO). Methods: We trained Alabama Trauma Communication Center (ATCC) paramedics in the previously derived 6 point Emergency Medical Stroke Assessment (EMSA). ATCC staff guided Emergency Medical Service (EMS) responders in the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System (BREMSS), and paged-out a hospital prenotification that included specific EMSA items (gaze, facial droop, arm drift, leg drift, naming, and repetition). Ongoing quality improvement was designed to enable the ATCC staff to effectively guide EMS responders. We derived the sensitivity, specificity, negative likelihood ratio (LR-), positive likelihood ratio (LR+), and receiver operator characteristics area under the curve (AUC) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of ATCC guided EMSA for predicting a discharge diagnosis of LVO for patients transported to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Results: We enrolled 521 patients from September 2016 through February 2018. Patients who only responded to pain (n=29, 5.6%) or who were unresponsive (n=21, 4%) were excluded. Of 471 patients analyzed, 247(52%) had a discharge diagnosis of stroke, including 182 (74%) acute ischemic stroke, 36 (14%) intracerebral hemorrhage, and 29 (11%) transient ischemic attack. There were 45 (18%) stroke patients with proximal LVO, including 31 middle cerebral artery stem, 12 internal carotid artery, and 2 basilar artery. Overall, an EMSA score ≥ 4 had sensitivity = 75.6%, specificity = 62.2%, LR- = 0.39, and LR+ = 2.00 for proximal LVO. During the first 9 months of the study, the EMSA AUC = 0.61 (CI = 0.45 – 0.77) compared to an AUC = 0.74 (CI = 0.64 – 0.84) during the second 9 month period of the study. Conclusions: EMS stroke medical control based on communication center guided prehospital stroke assessment and ongoing quality improvement is feasible and results in sustained ability to identify patients with LVO. Further studies are needed to evaluate the impact of guided prehospital triage of patients with suspected LVO on health outcomes.
Abstract only Introduction: We are prospectively validating a model of communication center guided prehospital identification of stroke patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO). Goal: Assess the ...inter-rater agreement between a Vascular Neurologist and Alabama Trauma Communication Center (ATCC) personnel in diagnostic classification of stroke patients. Methods: The ATCC is staffed by paramedic-trained dispatchers who field calls from Emergency Medical Service (EMS) responders and maintain up-to-the-minute status of hospitals and resources 24/7. We trained ATCC personnel in stroke pathology, pathophysiology, appropriate patient selection for thrombolytic and endovascular therapies; and the previously derived 6 point Emergency Medical Stroke Assessment (EMSA). ATCC personnel guided EMS responders in the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System (BREMSS), and paged-out a hospital stroke prenotification that included specific EMSA scale items (gaze, facial droop, arm drift, leg drift, naming, and repetition). All interactions between the ATCC and EMS responders were recorded, allowing review of audio files and ongoing quality improvement. ATCC personnel and a vascular neurologist separately reviewed recordings and assigned scores to each patient according to the deficit stated by the EMS. To determine inter-rater reliability we utilized the Kappa statistic with a significance level of 0.05, and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: We sampled a total of 146 patients. We observed statistically significant agreement between the raters for all EMSA components, with 71% (CI=45-97%, p<0.0001) agreement in rating the gaze component, 54% (CI=26-82%, p=0.002) for the face, 57% (CI=29-85%, p=0.001) for the arm, 60% (CI=33-86%, p<0.0006) for the leg, 56% (CI=30-81%, p<0.001) for naming, and 34% (CI=6-61%, p<0.04) for repetition. Conclusion: We conclude that there is moderate to substantial agreement in most stroke assessment items by a paramedic staffed communication center and a vascular neurologist. There was only fair inter-rater agreement for repetition. Paramedic-trained dispatchers can reliably guide EMS responders and score the Emergency Medical Stroke Assessment.
PDF
