A PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF AMBULANCE ATTENDANTS IN NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY

A study was undertaken to develop a practical research methodology to determine whether emergency medical technicians (EMT's) working in Northeastern Kentucky were correctly assessing and managing the patient's condition. The performance of the EMT with basic training (81-hr. Department of Transportation course) was compared with that of the nontrained ambulance attendant. The methodology involved four areas of interest: a patient encounter form completed by the EMT's and non-EMT's, monitoring activities by emergency room personnel or selected professionals, use of emergency room records for validation purposes, and a panel of experts who evaluated the data from the three preceding areas. The specific patient conditions of interest were fractures, lacerations, cardiac arrest, and cardiopulmonary disorders. Of the 247 EMT encounters, 42.1% were correctly assessed and 55.1% were correctly managed. Of the 70 non-EMT encounters, 17.1% were correctly assessed and 27.1% were correctly managed. Of the EMT encounters, 27.5% were both correctly assessed and managed vs. only 5.7% for the non-EMT cases. Preliminary experience indicates that the performance methodology is basically sound; however, some revisions in the encounter form are anticipated (to include dispatch and return run information). The methodology has the potential for identifying areas where additional expertise is needed, provides an instrument to compare significant differences between rural and urban services based upon system constraints, and indicates areas of treatment most frequently occurring in different areas.

• Corporate Authors:

  Health Development Association Northeastern Kentucky

  400 Flemingsburg Road
  Morehead, KY  United States  40351
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: 40 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Disasters and emergency operations; Emergency medical technicians; Hazards and emergency operations; Methodology; Performance evaluations; Training
• Subject Areas: Education and Training; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00393733
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-027 319U
• Contract Numbers: DHEW-HSM-110-72-301
• Files: HSL, USDOT
• Created Date: May 31 1985 12:00AM