Ability of the Australian general public to identify common emergency medical situations: Results of an online survey of a nationally representative sample.

Autor: Mills BW; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Australia. Electronic address: b.mills@ecu.edu.au., Hill MG; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Australia., Miles AK; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Australia., Smith EC; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Australia., Afrifa-Yamoah E; School of Science, Edith Cowan University, Australia., Reid DN; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Australia., Rogers SL; School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Australia., Sim MGB; School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Australasian emergency care [Australas Emerg Care] 2022 Dec; Vol. 25 (4), pp. 327-333. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 May 04.
DOI: 10.1016/j.auec.2022.04.002
Abstrakt: Objective: To investigate the Australian general public's ability to identify common medical emergencies as requiring an emergency response.
Methods: An online survey asked participants to identify likely medical treatment pathways they would take for 17 hypothetical medical scenarios (eight emergency and nine non-emergency). The number and type of emergency scenarios participants correctly suggested warranted an emergency medical response was examined. Participants included Australian residents (aged>18 years; n = 5264) who had never worked as an Australian registered medical doctor, nurse or paramedic.
Results: Most emergencies were predominately correctly classified as requiring emergency responses (e.g. Severe chest pain, 95% correct). However, non-emergency medical responses were often chosen for some emergency scenarios, such as a child suffering from a scalp haematoma (67%), potential meningococcal disease (57%), a box jellyfish sting (40%), a paracetamol overdose (37%), and mild chest pain (26%). Participants identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander suggested a non-emergency response to emergency scenarios 29% more often compared with non-indigenous participants.
Conclusions: Educational interventions targeting specific medical symptoms may work to alleviate delayed emergency medical intervention. This research highlights a particular need for improving symptom identification and healthcare system confidence amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.
(Copyright © 2022 College of Emergency Nursing Australasia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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