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Improving motivation for self-directed training in Danish EMS personnel

02 March 2020
Volume 10 · Issue 1

Abstract

Background:

Emergency Medical Services personnel's motivation to carry out self-directed training might be impaired by several factors such as work environment, pressures and training facilities. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether easy access to local training facilities would improve individual motivation for self-directed training.

Methods:

A before-and-after study of 118 Danish personnel was conducted. Participants were asked to complete two identical questionnaires, exploring their motivation and training efforts, before and after initiatives to promote training were introduced.

Results:

Response rates were 69 and 77, respectively. Motivation for self-directed training increased, on a scale from 1–10, from 5.6 to 6.7. The rating of opportunities to perform self-directed training increased from 4.1 to 5.9 and the rating of the training facilities from 3.7 to 6.3. The frequency of training sessions completed increased (every shift n=6 to 12, every second-to-third shift n=29 to 37).

Conclusion:

The increase in ratings regarding motivation and effort for carrying out self-directed training suggests that easily accessible training facilities improves individual motivation for self-directed training in emergency services personnel.

Emergency medicine is a field of practice based on knowledge and skills required for the prevention, diagnosis and management of acute and urgent aspects of illness and injury. These affect patients of all age groups with a full spectrum of episodic, undifferentiated, physical and behavioural disorders. It also encompasses an understanding of the development of prehospital and in-hospital emergency medical systems and the skills necessary for this development (International Federation of Emergency Medicine, 2019). Over the last two decades, emergency medical services (EMS) have come to play an increasingly important role in the Danish healthcare system. EMS have traditionally been used as a hospital support function, focusing on ensuring safe and reliable transport from the scene of an emergency to the nearest hospital. Today, it offers high-quality prehospital care by specialised professionals, and is tightly integrated with other healthcare services (Healthcare Denmark, 2019). To be successful in prehospital emergency care, a qualified and competent prehospital team with sufficient training regarding quick decision-making, resuscitation, invasive techniques, airway and trauma management is necessary (Carhart, 2014).

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