Comparing the effects of two different educational methods on clinical skills of emergency intermediate technician: A quasi-experimental research

BACKGROUND: Assessing the clinical skills of prehospital Intermediate technician is considered to be one of the priorities in dealing with diseases, which may provide an appropriate reflection of the training programs. The purpose of this study was to compare the two methods of clinical skills training of emergency intermediate technician. METHODS: This quasi-experiment was carried out on Kerman's emergency medical technicians in 2017. Operational and clinical skills, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), triage, familiarity with the equipment, and proper patient transportation methods, were taught in both electronic and traditional methods on two groups, each consisting of 30 intermediate technicians. Finally, the personnel's satisfaction level with the two teaching methods was compared and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the theoretical test scores in both the electronic and traditional methods in all the participants (triage, pulmonary resuscitation, familiarity with equipment, and patient transportation). Furthermore, there were significant differences between the practical test scores in both the electronic and traditional methods, in all the participants except triage. There was a significant difference between learners' satisfaction in both electronic and traditional methods in two areas of teaching and course difficulty in CPR, equipment usage, and methods of transportation. CONCLUSION: According to the results obtained by the present study, the electronic educational systems due to their inclusive and interactive nature are recommended to be employed in courses that have more theoretical aspects such as triage. The traditional method is suggested in teaching practical courses such as CPR that need more practical and clinical skills.