Project Researcher at South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Advanced Level Paramedic at Kymsote - Kymenlaakso Social and Health Services, Doctoral Candidate at University of Helsinki, Faculty of Medicine, Finland.
Principal Lecturer at South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences, Adjunct Professor in Health Policy at University of Helsinki, Finland.
Accid Anal Prev. 2019 Apr;125:40-48. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2019.01.021. Epub 2019 Jan 30.
Paramedics face several safety risks in their occupation, and crashes during emergency response driving (ERD) are quite common. However, there is a need for more research to develop educational and implementation suggestions to determine how these risks can be reduced and managed. In this study, we examined what risk factors Finnish paramedics recognize when performing ERD.
The study material consisted of 161 pages of material that had been written by experienced paramedics (n = 44) who were master's degree students of South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences in fall 2017. They wrote essays based solely on their own thoughts and experiences regarding the risk factors associated with ERD. The material was analyzed via inductive content analysis.
Two main categories were found: Crew-related risk factors and environmental risk factors. These categories could be further divided into eight sub-categories. The crew-related risk factors consisted of lack of education and training for ERD, insufficient concentration on driving, irresponsibility and indifference, crew member's inability to take collective responsibility for safety as a team, and excessive load experienced by the driver. Environmental risk factors consisted of demanding handling of ambulance, poor visibility, and other road users.
Finnish paramedics recognized several risk factors in ERD. Some of the factors have been noted in previous literature regarding ambulance crashes and should be addressed as a matter of urgency to improve safety. Overall, better knowledge regarding these risks needs to be developed worldwide. The results led to several further study suggestions.
急救人员在其职业中面临着若干安全风险，在应急响应驾驶（ERD）期间发生碰撞的情况相当常见。然而，需要开展更多研究来制定教育和实施建议，以确定如何降低和管理这些风险。在本研究中，我们调查了芬兰急救人员在执行 ERD 时所识别的风险因素。
研究材料由经验丰富的急救人员（n=44）在 2017 年秋季撰写的 161 页材料组成，他们是东南芬兰应用科学大学的硕士研究生。他们仅根据自己对与 ERD 相关的风险因素的想法和经验撰写了文章。该材料通过归纳内容分析进行了分析。
发现了两个主要类别：机组相关的风险因素和环境风险因素。这两个类别可以进一步细分为八个子类别。机组相关的风险因素包括缺乏 ERD 教育和培训、对驾驶的注意力不集中、不负责任和漠不关心、机组人员无法作为一个团队对安全承担集体责任以及驾驶员承受的过度负荷。环境风险因素包括对救护车的苛刻操作、能见度差以及其他道路使用者。
芬兰急救人员在 ERD 中识别出了若干风险因素。其中一些因素在之前关于救护车碰撞的文献中已有提及，应作为当务之急加以解决，以提高安全性。总体而言，需要在全球范围内更好地了解这些风险。研究结果引出了若干进一步的研究建议。
