Acute myocardial infarction patients' chest pain as monitored and evaluated by ambulance personnel.

A delicate duty for ambulance personnel is to care for patients who suffer from chest pain, caused by acute myocardial infarction (AMI-patient). In Sweden pain-relieving drugs may be administered, such as: oxygen, entonox, or morphine according to the skill of the ambulance personnel. The aim of this study was to find out if AMI-patients' expressions of pain were monitored and evaluated, in which way the AMI-patients received pain-relief, and to which degree they were relieved of pain. Examinations of the records of the ambulance personnel's observations during transport of AMI-patients revealed that nine tenths of those who complained about chest pain received pain-relieving drugs. The results of the treatments varied, however, from a good rate of response to morphine to less responses to oxygen and entonox. In order to treat AMI-patients who are in need of pain-relief during their transit to hospital the ambulance personnel must possess thorough knowledge of both pain theory and communication theory. Furthermore, they need tools for assessment of pain and for administering adequate pain-relieving drugs in clinical practice. In the future it may be necessary to differentiate between ambulance personnel in routine service and those in emergency service according to their levels of education.