BACKGROUND Indonesia is a huge, diverse, and developing country that until recently had no public ambulance service let alone a system of prehospital care. It commonly experiences many natural disasters, manmade conflicts, and violence as well as the daily emergencies seen worldwide. CURRENT SYSTEM Hospitals of varying standards are widespread but have no system of emergency ambulance or pati...

OBJECTIVES The benefit of prehospital endotracheal intubation (ETI) among individuals experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OOHCA) has not been fully examined. The objective of this study was to determine if prehospital ETI attempts were associated with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and survival to discharge among individuals experiencing OOHCA. METHODS This retrospective st...

BACKGROUND Physicians working in prehospital care are expected to handle radio communication both within their own sector as well as with other divisions of the National Emergency Services. To date, no study has been conducted on the level of training received by physicians in the use of the equipment provided or on the level of competency acquired by physicians. METHODS In order to investiga...

BACKGROUND Many low- and middle-income countries depend on emergency medical technicians (EMTs), nurses, midwives, and layperson community health workers with limited training to provide a majority of emergency medical, trauma, and obstetric care in the prehospital setting. To improve timely patient care and expand provider scope of practice, nations leverage cellular phones and call centers fo...

OBJECTIVES The benefits of prehospital trauma management remain controversial. This study aimed to compare the processes of care and outcomes of trauma patients treated by paramedics, who are trained in advanced prehospital trauma care, with those treated by ambulance technicians. METHODS A six year prospective study was conducted of adult trauma patients attended to by the Scottish Ambulance...

BACKGROUND Errors in the decision-making process are probably the main threat to patient safety in the prehospital setting. The reason can be the change of focus in prehospital care from the traditional "scoop and run" practice to a more complex assessment and this new focus imposes real demands on clinical judgment. The use of Clinical Guidelines (CG) is a common strategy for cognitively suppo...

All medical practitioners working within the NHS are subject to annual appraisal and in the future revalidation. Medical responders acting on behalf of NHS Ambulances Trusts often working in a voluntary capacity will require appraisal either individually (those working exclusively in prehospital care) or jointly (for hospital practitioners or GP's who are also involved prehospital care). They w...

Despite significant improvements in health outcomes nationally, many Cambodians continue to experience morbidity and mortality due to inadequate access to quality emergency medical services. Over recent decades, the Cambodian healthcare system and civil infrastructure have advanced markedly and now possess many of the components required to establish a well functioning emergency medical system....