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Prehospital Sepsis Project (PSP): Knowledge and Attitudes of United States Advanced Out-of-Hospital Care Providers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2013

Amado Alejandro Báez ,
Priscilla Hanudel ,
Maria Teresa Perez ,
Ediza M. Giraldez  and
Susan R. Wilcox
Amado Alejandro Báez
Affiliation:
Centros de Diagnóstico y Medicina Avanzada y de Conferencias Médicas y Telemedicina (CEDIMAT), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Priscilla Hanudel
Affiliation:
Kaiser Permanente, Los Angeles, California USA
Maria Teresa Perez
Affiliation:
Boston College School of Nursing, Boston, Massachusetts USA
Ediza M. Giraldez
Affiliation:
Instituto de Inmonologia Asma y Especialiades, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Susan R. Wilcox*
Affiliation:
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts USA and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts USA
*
Correspondence: Susan R. Wilcox, MD Zero Emerson Place, Office 3B Boston, MA 02114 USA E-mail swilcox1@partners.org
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Abstract

Introduction

Severe sepsis and septic shock are common and often fatal medical problems. The Prehospital Sepsis Project is a multifaceted study that aims to improve the out-of-hospital care of patients with sepsis by means of education and enhancement of skills. The objective of this Project was to assess the knowledge and attitudes in the principles of diagnosis and management of sepsis in a cohort of United States out-of-hospital care providers.

Methods

This was cross-sectional study. A 15-item survey was administered via the Web and e-mailed to multiple emergency medical services list-servers. The evaluation consisted of four clinical scenarios as well as questions on the basics of sepsis. For intra-rater reliability, the first and the fourth scenarios were identical. Chi-square and Fisher's Exact testing were used to assess associations. Relative risk (RR) was used for strength of association. Statistical significance was set at .05.

Results

A total of 226 advanced EMS providers participated with a 85.4% (n = 193) completion rate, consisting of a 30.7% rural, 32.3% urban, and 37.0% suburban mix; 82.4% were paramedics and 72.5% had worked in EMS >10 years. Only 57 (29.5%) participants scored both of the duplicate scenarios correctly, and only 19 of the 193 (9.8%) responded to all scenarios correctly. Level of training was not a predictor of correctly scoring scenarios (P = .71, RR = 1.25, 95% CI = 0.39-4.01), nor was years of service (P = .11, RR = 1.64, 95% CI = 0.16-1.21).

Conclusions

Poor understanding of the principles of diagnosis and management of sepsis was observed in this cohort, suggesting the need for enhancement of education. Survey items will be used to develop a focused, interactive Web-based learning program. Limitations include potential for self-selection and data accuracy.

Báez AA, Hanudel P, Perez MT, Giraldez EM, Wilcox SR. Prehospital Sepsis Project (PSP): Knowledge and Attitudes of United States Advanced Out-of-Hospital Care Providers. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(2):1-3.

Keywords

educationemergency medical servicesknowledgeprehospitalsepsissurvey
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 104 - 106
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

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