Knowledge, attitude, and clinical skill of emergency medical technicians from Tehran emergency center in trauma exposure

INTRODUCTION: Prehospital care is the first part of the trauma treatment and care system. Diagnostic and therapeutic measures taken before these patients arrive at the hospital plays significantly reduce mortality and improve their outcomes. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the knowledge, attitude, and clinical skill of emergency medical technicians in Tehran Emergency Center in trauma exposure. METHODS: In this descriptive study, 213 participants were selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a four-part questionnaire including demographic information, trauma knowledge questionnaire, trauma attitude questionnaire, and a clinical skill checklist. To compare the level of knowledge, attitude, and clinical skills on the one hand and demographic variables, on the other hand, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were utilized. Then, to examine the normality of data distribution, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test with Bonferroni post hoc test was used to compare mean scores on different levels of the variables in questionnaires. Data were analyzed in SPSS/17 using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: Results showed that the majority of participants (81.1%) had an average knowledge of trauma. Examining their attitude regarding trauma revealed that the majority (88.3%) had a positive attitude toward trauma and taking care of trauma patients. Moreover, the skill of 62.4% of technicians regarding trauma was good. Based on Pearson's correlation, significant positive correlations existed between scores of knowledge and scores of attitude (r = 0.186, P < 0.05), scores of knowledge and scores of clinical skill (r = 0.333, P < 0.05), and scores of attitude and scores of clinical skill (r = 0.258, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: According to the results, emergency medical technicians in Tehran had a good level of knowledge, attitude, and clinical skills in trauma exposure. However, to maintain and enhance the level of knowledge and skills, in-service training should be continued more vigorously and periodically evaluated in the clinical practice.