Volume 11 Issue 4

Trauma education and training for healthcare providers: a scoping review

Background: Every six seconds, someone in the world dies because of injury. Trauma is a major public health problem and leads to significant mortality and morbidity worldwide. Healthcare provider training can affect patient outcomes; therefore, it is useful to examine the efficacy of trauma training programmes. This scoping review aimed to determine the impact of trauma training or education on healthcare providers' confidence. Method: Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Ovid Emcare, CINAHL, Scopus, Google Scholar and Trove were systematically searched on 7 August 2021, and a methodology adopted to ensure the scoping review was comprehensive. Results: A total of 749 articles were retrieved, of which 15 were eligible for the scoping review. After the articles were analysed, two themes—knowledge and experience—were identified. Knowledge improved from attending courses. However, knowledge retention fell over time. Participants reported that their confidence improved after attending courses, but an inverted correlation was observed between experience and knowledge. Conclusion: Trauma training courses improve the confidence of healthcare providers. However, these courses should be conducted regularly and trainees observed to assess their confidence. Further studies should be conducted to evaluate the effect of these courses on practitioner confidence.

Postprandial hypotension: lessons from Sir Roger Bannister's textbook

In the fourth and final article of the Neurocardiology series, Helen Cowan looks at postprandial hypotension as described in Sir Roger Bannister's textbook and subsequent research.

Asking questions

Emergency practitioners' motivations and acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination

Background: Vaccination against the SARS-CoV-2 virus is an essential contributor to ending the pandemic. Acceptance of the vaccine among emergency medical service (EMS) professionals is largely unknown. Methods: A survey was distributed to EMS professionals. Participants responded to questions about their experiences of COVID-19, if they had received a COVID-19 vaccine, and personal reasons behind their decision for having it. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and multivariate logistic regression was used to produce adjusted odds ratios. Findings: A total of 1087 survey responses were collected. Among respondents, 65% had received a full COVID-19 vaccine dose and 33% had not. Of those who had not, 81% said they were unlikely or very unlikely to receive a vaccine. Certification level, age and education were statistically significant factors for vaccine acceptance. Conclusion: Age, education and certification level are statistically significant factors in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among EMS professionals. Additional research is needed to identify best practices to combat vaccine hesitancy.

Considerations on out-of-hospital pain assessment of a diverse population

Nearly all medical emergency calls are related to someone experiencing some form of discomfort—either due to trauma or pain. Initial pain assessment may be undertaken over the telephone by an emergency medical dispatcher, without seeing the patient; however, the next key moment in pain assessment is completed patient-side by the paramedic. This inquiry is detailed and guides the paramedic in the formation of a differential diagnosis and provision of appropriate pain management. The research team recently conducted and published a study on pain assessment which raised concerns on the subjectivity of pain scoring. The work presented was in the context of a very multicultural environment. The aim of this commentary article is to further explore this topic and encourage health professionals to reflect on this aspect of patient assessment.