Evaluating the General Public’s Awareness of Pre-Hospital Emergency Medical Services in Tabriz; a Cross-sectional Descriptive Study
Iranian Journal of Emergency Medicine,
Vol. 8 No. 1 (2021),
23 Azar 2020
,
Page e40
https://doi.org/10.22037/ijem.v8i1.37063
Abstract
Introduction: The general public’s awareness of pre-hospital emergency medical services (EMS) and how they use the service is not very clear. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of the general public and potential users regarding pre-hospital emergency medical services.
Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 1100 people were selected from the general public and potential users of pre-hospital emergency. To collect data, a questionnaire of public awareness of emergency services was used, and after determining its validity and reliability, it was filled out via telephone interviews. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 21) and inferential and descriptive statistics.
Results: In this study, the mean knowledge score of interviewees was moderate (65.72±14.98) and knowledge in men was reported to be higher than women. The highest level of knowledge was related to the field of medical emergencies (75.92±6.87) and the lowest level of knowledge was related to how to contact EMS (58.59±21.65). The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the level of awareness and gender, age, marital status, education level, income level, and frequency and purpose of contact with EMS (P>0.001).
Conclusion: The results showed that The general public had moderate knowledge of pre-hospital emergency services. It is best to plan to increase public and potential users’ awareness of contact numbers, patient emergencies, available resources, and capabilities of the staff using the mass and social media. Therefore, with proper education at different ages and having programs for different social groups, it is possible to purposefully increase the community's awareness of different areas of emergency.
- Emergency medical services
- awareness
- emergencies
How to Cite
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