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Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery

Individuals who experience a traumatic injury or an acute illness are often reliant on initial healthcare assessment and support from a pre‐hospital emergency medical service (EMS). These community‐based support models perform a vital role in the provision of life‐saving support, but research indica...

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Autores principales: Alanazy, Ahmed Ramdan M., Fraser, John, Wark, Stuart
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10084261/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35634803
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13859
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author Alanazy, Ahmed Ramdan M.
Fraser, John
Wark, Stuart
author_facet Alanazy, Ahmed Ramdan M.
Fraser, John
Wark, Stuart
author_sort Alanazy, Ahmed Ramdan M.
collection PubMed
description Individuals who experience a traumatic injury or an acute illness are often reliant on initial healthcare assessment and support from a pre‐hospital emergency medical service (EMS). These community‐based support models perform a vital role in the provision of life‐saving support, but research indicates that the availability, accessibility and resources of EMS are not equivalent in rural and urban areas, and there has been little recognition of the issues facing rural EMS provision outside of the USA, Europe and Australia. The purpose of the current study was to examine the lived experiences of Saudi Arabian EMS personnel, defined as emergency medical technicians, paramedics and local station managers. A semi‐structured interview approach was used to collect data from 20 interviewees (10 each with rural and urban personnel) in the Riyadh region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This methodology was used to identify the key issues that these staff face in their day‐to‐day work practice and ascertain factors that may lead to service delivery issues in rural and urban areas. Data analyses identified three thematic categories impacting EMS delivery; two of these, Personnel Factors and Patient Factors, are the focus of this paper. The participants noted a number of key issues, including a lack of appropriate local training and limited resources in rural areas, as well as general areas of concern regarding the wider EMS staff demographic makeup and poor public awareness about the exact role of the EMS. Three key recommendations arising from this study include specialised training and ongoing accessible education for rural EMS staff to allow for better support for patients; consideration of supplementing the current EMS with additional external specialist staff; and the development and implementation of national public education programmes focusing on the role of the EMS within the community.
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spelling pubmed-100842612023-04-11 Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery Alanazy, Ahmed Ramdan M. Fraser, John Wark, Stuart Health Soc Care Community Original Articles Individuals who experience a traumatic injury or an acute illness are often reliant on initial healthcare assessment and support from a pre‐hospital emergency medical service (EMS). These community‐based support models perform a vital role in the provision of life‐saving support, but research indicates that the availability, accessibility and resources of EMS are not equivalent in rural and urban areas, and there has been little recognition of the issues facing rural EMS provision outside of the USA, Europe and Australia. The purpose of the current study was to examine the lived experiences of Saudi Arabian EMS personnel, defined as emergency medical technicians, paramedics and local station managers. A semi‐structured interview approach was used to collect data from 20 interviewees (10 each with rural and urban personnel) in the Riyadh region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This methodology was used to identify the key issues that these staff face in their day‐to‐day work practice and ascertain factors that may lead to service delivery issues in rural and urban areas. Data analyses identified three thematic categories impacting EMS delivery; two of these, Personnel Factors and Patient Factors, are the focus of this paper. The participants noted a number of key issues, including a lack of appropriate local training and limited resources in rural areas, as well as general areas of concern regarding the wider EMS staff demographic makeup and poor public awareness about the exact role of the EMS. Three key recommendations arising from this study include specialised training and ongoing accessible education for rural EMS staff to allow for better support for patients; consideration of supplementing the current EMS with additional external specialist staff; and the development and implementation of national public education programmes focusing on the role of the EMS within the community. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-05-30 2022-11 /pmc/articles/PMC10084261/ /pubmed/35634803 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13859 Text en © 2022 The Authors. Health and Social Care in the Community published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Alanazy, Ahmed Ramdan M.
Fraser, John
Wark, Stuart
Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery
title Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery
title_full Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery
title_fullStr Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery
title_full_unstemmed Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery
title_short Emergency medical services in rural and urban Saudi Arabia: A qualitative study of Red Crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery
title_sort emergency medical services in rural and urban saudi arabia: a qualitative study of red crescent emergency personnel' perceptions of workforce and patient factors impacting effective delivery
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10084261/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35634803
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13859
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