Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:30:04.488Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Public Perceptions of a Rural Emergency Medical Services System

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Lawrence H. Brown*
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medical Services, Department of Emergency Medicine, East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, N.C.
N. Heramba Prasad
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medical Services, Department of Emergency Medicine, East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, N.C.
Kirk Grimmer
Affiliation:
Division of Emergency Medical Services, Department of Emergency Medicine, East Carolina University School of Medicine, Greenville, N.C.
*
East Carolina University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Building M, Physicians', Quadrangle, Greenville, NC 27858, USA

Abstract

Introduction:

To determine the awareness of citizens and physicians concerning the capabilities of a rural emergency medical services (EMS) system.

Hypothesis:

Citizens and physicians are unaware of the capabilities of the EMS system.

Methods:

Residents were selected randomly from the local telephone directory and asked a series of structured questions about their EMS agency. A written survey was distributed to area physicians. Chi-square analysis was used to compare the proportion of respondents who knew the available interventions in their community with the proportion of those who did not. Statistical significance was inferred at p <0.01.

Results:

A total of 49% of the citizens were able to identify available skills, and 41.4% of the physicians were able to identify available skills. Physicians were less likely than were the citizens to be able to identify the skills performed by each provider (p <0.001).

Conclusion:

This study indicates that both physicians and the lay public have little understanding of the capabilities of their EMS system.

Type
Brief Report
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Harvey, JC: The Emergency Medical Service Systems Act of 1973. JAMA 1974;231:11391140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2. Young, M, Ponder, LD, Hurley, RS: Educating the consumer about emergency medical services. Health and Social Work 1978:3:173181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Eisenberg, M, Hallstrom, A, Becker, L: Community awareness of emergency phone numbers. Am J Publ Health 1981:71:10581060.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Cobb, LA, Hallstrom, AP: Community-based cardiopulmonary resuscitation: What have we learned? Ann NY Acad Sci 1982;382:330342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Weaver, WD, Hill, D, Fahrenbruch, CE, et al. : Use of the automatic external defibrillator in the management of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. N Eng J Med 1988;319:661666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Eisenberg, MS, Horwood, BT, Cummins, RO, et al. : Cardiac arrest resuscitation: A tale of 29 cities. Ann Emerg Med 1990:19:179186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Zimmerman, MA: Citizen participation in rural health: A promising resource. J Publ Health Pol 1990;11:323340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Boyd, DR, Dulick, H, Brandes, R, Huntely, C: First Forum Debate: Funding of prehospital EMS is the responsibility of the public sector. Emerg Med Serv 1976:5: 10–15, 50–54, 59.Google Scholar
9. Richardson, JD, Scutchfield, FD: Priorities in health care: The consumer's viewpoint in an Appalachian community. Am J Publ Health 1973;63:7982.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10. Mamot, PR, Martz, CD: Indiana emergency medical services take on a sense of immediacy. J Trauma 1975;15:8283. Editorial.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed