IntroductionPrehospital emergency medical service dispatchers should make prompt and appropriate decisions to save the life of victims. The complexity of timely and reasonable decision-making in life-threatening conditions has driven researchers to investigate varying aspects of the emergency medical dispatch (EMD) process. The purpose of this study was to explore the contributors to appropriate and prompt decision-making among dispatchers.MethodsA qualitative study through thematic analysis was designed. Data were collected using observation and semistructured interviews with 16 authorities and dispatchers in seven EMDs across Iran.ResultsThe study found “responsiveness” as the main category contributing to improved decision-making in EMD. The components introduced in this study for dispatchers’ responsiveness consisted of two categories. The first was “personal values” including faith and belief, eagerness to help, service excellence, altruism, respect, and impartiality in clinical judgment. The second was “professional attitudes” resulting from education and experience, including the recognition of emergency as a threat to health, sensitivity in triage, response to all requests for help, care for early warnings, commitment to organizational goals and standards, attention to the emergency medical service social support responsibility, and professional temperance.ConclusionIn this study, responsiveness was identified as a main category in improving the decision-making process among dispatchers. To attain responsiveness, institutionalization of its values and establishment of EMD-specific professional attitudes in dispatchers should be taken into consideration.
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected in countless ways conventional teaching methods and led to a sudden shift in teaching methods toward distance teaching. Objectives: Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of webinar training compared to conventional training on the risk perception of COVID-19 in emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Methods: This quasi-experimental study selected 70 EMTs employed at the emergency medical services (EMS) affiliated to the Birjand University of Medical Sciences via convenience sampling. The participants were randomly designed into a webinar training group (n = 35) and a conventional training group (n = 35). The risk perception of COVID-19 was evaluated using a researcher-made questionnaire (40 questions) at baseline and immediately after teaching. The study data were analyzed using SPSS V.26, descriptive (frequency, mean, and standard deviation), and inferential statistics (t-test, ANOVA, and Chi-square test). Results: All the 70 participants completed the questionnaire. The mean score of COVID-19 risk perception in both groups improved following teaching (P < 0.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the groups immediately after training (P = 0.76). Also, independent t-test and one-way ANOVA showed that the mean score of COVID-19 risk perception had no significant difference with the participants’ demographic data in the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The webinar in the form of distance teaching can be as effective as conventional teaching in improving COVID-19 risk perception. Therefore, a webinar format can be used during pandemics of infectious diseases when conventional training is impossible.
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