Can the well trained EMT-paramedic maintain skills and knowledge?

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Medical Education
• Healthcare Quality Assurance

Background:

• Established criteria exist for evaluating individual and team competence among emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics.
• Current assessment methods include written/oral exams, skill evaluations, and physician observation of patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the use of tracer conditions reflecting patient outcomes for assessing EMT-paramedic team competence.
• To determine the effectiveness of using specific patient conditions as tracers for team performance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized standard definitions for "resuscitation" and "save" in emergency care scenarios.
• Employed the pulseless, non-breathing patient as a specific "tracer condition" to evaluate team performance.
• Calculated patient outcomes based on a standard base population per unit time.

Main Results:

• Out of 241 patients, 75 (31%) were successfully resuscitated.
• A total of 34 (14%) patients were classified as "saved."
• The study demonstrated that tracer conditions can yield quantifiable data on team competence.

Conclusions:

• EMT-paramedic team competence can be reliably assessed using tracer conditions linked to patient outcomes.
• The pulseless, non-breathing patient scenario serves as a valid tracer for evaluating resuscitation and save rates.
• Further research can identify additional appropriate tracers for assessing team manipulative skill competence.