South Karelia Social and Healthcare District, Lappeenranta, Finland
Department of Emergency Medicine and Services, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland.
BMJ Open. 2020 Oct 21;10(10):e037488. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037488.
Research on patient safety in emergency medical services (EMS) has mainly focused on the organisation's and/or the EMS personnel's perspective. Little is known about how patients perceive safety in EMS. This study aims to describe the patients' experiences of their sense of safety in EMS.
A qualitative design with individual interviews of EMS patients (n=21) and an inductive qualitative content analysis were used.
Patients' experiences of EMS personnel's ability or inability to show or use their medical, technical and driving skills affected the patients' sense of safety. When they perceived a lack of professionalism and knowledge among EMS personnel, they felt unsafe. Patients highlighted equality in the encounter, the quality of the information given by EMS personnel and the opportunity to participate in their care as important factors creating a sense of safety during the EMS encounter. Altogether, patients' perceptions of safety in EMS were connected to their confidence in the EMS personnel.
Overall, patients felt safe during their EMS encounter, but the EMS personnel's professional competence alone is not enough for them to feel safe. Lack of communication or professionalism may compromise their sense of safety. Further work is needed to explore how patients' perceptions of safety can be used in improving safety in EMS.
在紧急医疗服务（EMS）中，有关患者安全的研究主要集中在组织和/或 EMS 人员的角度。关于患者如何感知 EMS 中的安全性，人们知之甚少。本研究旨在描述患者对 EMS 中安全感的体验。
采用定性设计，对 21 名 EMS 患者进行个体访谈，并进行归纳性定性内容分析。
患者对 EMS 人员展示或运用其医疗、技术和驾驶技能的能力或无能的体验，影响了患者的安全感。当他们认为 EMS 人员缺乏专业精神和知识时，他们会感到不安全。患者强调在遭遇 EMS 时平等、EMS 人员提供的信息质量以及参与自身护理的机会，这些都是创造安全感的重要因素。总之，患者对 EMS 安全性的感知与他们对 EMS 人员的信任有关。
总体而言，患者在 EMS 遭遇中感到安全，但 EMS 人员的专业能力本身并不能让他们感到安全。缺乏沟通或专业精神可能会影响他们的安全感。需要进一步研究如何利用患者对安全性的感知来提高 EMS 中的安全性。
