OBJECTIVES In the present study, we modified a night shift system for an ambulance service so that ambulance paramedics were assured of taking a nap, and examined the effects of this new system on the fatigue and physiological function of ambulance paramedics. METHODS Ten ambulance paramedics at a fire station in the center of a large city in Japan voluntarily enrolled as subjects in this fie...

Background: A pre-hospital notification (PN) system is required to optimize government-initiated comprehensive stroke center (CSC) programs in South Korea. We accordingly conducted a feasibility study in the Busan region. Methods: We determined the stroke detection accuracy and the door-to-imaging (DTI) time as a result of using PN in the Busan region among acute stroke (AS) patients who were d...

BACKGROUND Acute asthma is a common reason for patients to seek care from ambulance services. Although better care of acute asthma can prevent avoidable morbidity and deaths, there has been little research into ambulance clinicians' adherence to national guidelines for asthma assessment and management and how this might be improved. Our research aim was to explore paramedics' attitudes, percept...

(1) Background: An analysis of work-related accidents in paramedics in Poland by presenting the model and trend of accidents, accident rates and by identifying causes and results of accidents; (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis of medical documentation regarding work-related accidents in a multi-specialist hospital, located in central Poland, in the period 2005-2015. The study group included...

BACKGROUND Expanded roles for paramedics, commonly termed community paramedicine, are becoming increasingly common. Paramedics working in community paramedicine roles represent a distinct departure away from the traditional emergency paradigm of paramedic services. Despite this, little research has addressed how community paramedics are perceived by their clients. METHODS This study took an i...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of Computerised Clinical Decision Support (CCDS) for paramedics attending older people who fall. DESIGN Cluster trial randomised by paramedic; modelling. SETTING 13 ambulance stations in two UK emergency ambulance services. PARTICIPANTS 42 of 409 eligible paramedics, who attended 779 older patients for a reported fall. I...

BACKGROUND The lifesavers responsible for lifesaving at the waterside routinely undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training, but in Japan, they are considered as lay persons. Lifesavers are likely to have better basic life support skills than lay persons. The objective of this study is to demonstrate that the accuracy of carotid pulse checks by lifesavers is not inferior to that of par...

The article presents a study of the interaction between paramedics and parents in cases of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). We have sought to understand how the parents perceived the paramedics ability to communicate as well as empathise and deal with practical aspects of the situation. We have also sought to understand how the paramedics view their role as professional health workers, and ...

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common occurrence in Australian society and has far reaching health, social and economic impacts, particularly for females who are the most common victims. It is theorised that paramedics frequently encounter IPV in the field and in some cases are the only agency which deal with IPV victims in the out-of-hospital setting. Thus paramedics have a unique opport...

BACKGROUND Clinical handover between paramedics and the trauma team is undertaken in a time-pressured environment. Paramedics are often required to handover complex problems to a multitude of staff. There is evidence that information loss occurs at this transition. The aims of this project were to (1) develop a minimum dataset to assist paramedics provide handover; (2) identify attributes of ef...