Pre-post comparison Analysis of Patient assessment education for Emergency Medical Technicians(EMTs)

The current study was conducted to make pre-post comparisons of education done for 119 emergency medical technicians (EMT) on the patient assessment performance. The data are expected to offer applicable training methods and educational resources for emergency medical services. Twenty six EMT from four cities and provinces participated in the study, which was carried out from 14 to 17 December, 2015. The technicians performed a patient assessment and marked reports on simulated patients. In the course of the assessment, a pre-post evaluation of education was done using a checklist regarding the respective symptoms, such as headache, chest pain, and dyspnea. The median value (quartile value) was used as the descriptive analysis. While patient assessment scores marked 66 points (54.00-80.25) out of 100 (p<0.01) before education, there was a significant increase in the after-education scores, which reached 88.5 points (80.00-93.00). The patient assessment performances revealed a significant increase (p<.0.01) in 5 chest pain, 7 headache, and 9 dyspnea items after education. Similarly, there was an increase in wanting to meet the EMT again scale in regards to categories involved in developing positive relations with patients. Moreover, the adequacy in the patient condition reports all marked a significant increase (p<0.01) in assessment categories. The present study shows that education based on simulation practices are necessary for improvements in patient assessment performance of 119 EMT. Therefore, practical and systematic patient assessment educations may serve as a prerequisite. Further opportunities should be provided for the EMT consistently.