Document Detail


Medical and prehospital care training in UK fire and rescue services.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  19625560     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
BACKGROUND: Fire fighters are often in a position to provide immediate medical assistance to casualties at the incidents they attend. Fire service national standards require competence in casualty stabilisation but the scope of practice is variably interpreted.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the current level and nature of medical training being delivered to UK firefighters.
METHOD: A postal questionnaire dispatched to the 62 fire and rescue services (FRS) of the UK, with telephone follow-up for non-responders and for clarification. Examination of syllabuses for healthcare training.
RESULTS: The majority (66%) of UK FRS are training their fire fighters in first aid (beyond statutory first aid at work) and prehospital emergency care. However, the level of this advanced aid is not standardised across the FRS that provide it.
CONCLUSION: Medical training of fire fighters shows considerable variance across the UK. An adequate and appropriate level of medical training should be decided and agreed across all the UK FRS. In partnership with the Chief Fire Officers' Association, a national standard should be established so that all UK fire fighters acquire a common set of medical competencies.
Authors:
L Quinn; K Challen; D Walter
Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Multicenter Study    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Emergency medicine journal : EMJ     Volume:  26     ISSN:  1472-0213     ISO Abbreviation:  Emerg Med J     Publication Date:  2009 Aug 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2009-07-23     Completed Date:  2009-11-24     Revised Date:  2010-11-29    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  100963089     Medline TA:  Emerg Med J     Country:  England    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  601-3     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Academic FY2, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, UK.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Education, Medical / methods*,  statistics & numerical data,  trends
Emergency Medical Services / statistics & numerical data*
Emergency Medicine / education*
Fires*
Forecasting
Great Britain
Humans
Time Factors
Comments/Corrections
Comment In:
Emerg Med J. 2010 Dec;27(12):960-1   [PMID:  20926625 ]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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