No abstract

Amongst first responder trainees, PCPs were able to apply the SALT triage tool with the most accuracy, followed by fire, then police. Over-triage was the most frequent error, while critical errors were rare.

Primary care paramedics performed MCI triage more accurately than FS students after brief SALT training, but no difference was found regarding types of error or time to triage completion. The clinical importance of this difference in triage accuracy likely is minimal, suggesting that fire services personnel could be considered for MCI triage depending on the availability of prehospital medical resources and appropriate training.

Critical care transport organizations are nimble, operationally focused institutions that can aid in managing crises. Ornge provides air ambulance and critical care transport services to Ontario. From 12 bases, Ornge operates four PC-12 Next Generation fixed wing (FW) aircraft, eight AW-139 rotary wing (RW) aircraft, and four critical care land ambulances (CCLA) on a 24/7 basis. Ornge also contracts with private air carriers to provide lower acuity air ambulance services. Ornge performs over 20,000 patient-related transports annually. We discuss Ornge's approach to preparing for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and identify potential unconventional roles.

Aims: Hypoglycaemia is a common treatment consequence in diabetes mellitus. Prior studies have shown that a large proportion of people with paramedic assist-requiring hypoglycaemia prefer not to be transported to hospital. Thus, these episodes are "invisible" to their usual diabetes care providers. A direct electronic referral programme where paramedics sent referrals focused hypoglycaemia education at the time of paramedic assessment was implemented in our region for 18 months; however, referral programme uptake was low. In this study, we examined patient and paramedic experiences with a direct electronic referral programme for hypoglycaemia education postparamedic assist-requiring hypoglycaemia, including barriers to programme referral and education attendance. Methods: We surveyed paramedics and conducted semistructured telephone interviews of patients with paramedic-assisted hypoglycaemia who consented to the referral programme and were scheduled for an education session in London and Middlesex County, Canada. Results: Paramedics and patient participants felt that the direct referral programme was beneficial. A third of paramedics who responded to our survey used the referral programme for each encounter where they treated patients for hypoglycaemia.Patients felt very positive about the referral programme and their paramedic encounter; however, they described embarrassment, guilt and prior negative experience as key barriers to attending education. Conclusions: Paramedics and patients felt that direct referral for focused hypoglycaemia education postparamedic assist-requiring hypoglycaemia was an excellent strategy. Despite this, referral programme participation was low and thus there remain ongoing barriers to implementation and attendance. Future iterations should consider how best to meet patient needs through innovative delivery methods. K E Y W O R D Sdiabetes mellitus, emergency medical technicians, health education, hypoglycaemia, qualitative research 2 of 10 | LIU et aL.