Factors affecting false calls to prehospital Emergency medical services and analyzing The recorded false calls in the dispatch center

INTRODUCTION: False calls to the prehospital emergency medical service (EMS) can divert EMS concentration from people with life-threatening conditions to a false situation and also affect the lives of the at-risk people.MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study, was conducted in 2019. The population consisted of 28 Dispatchers personnel and 130 emergency medical technicians located in 24 urban bases, and the recorded messages of 450 false calls to the prehospital EMS were also analyzed. Both personnel perspectives on the false calls questionnaire and false call content evaluation checklist were used to collect data.RESULTS: The most influential factors in the incidence of false calls were the dimensions of public education (4.38 ± 0.5) and instructions and guidelines (4.28 ± 0.51), respectively. “Insufficient knowledge of people about the sensitivity of EMS work” from the public education dimension (4.60 ± 0.54) and “Lack of codified rules for dealing with false calls to the EMS” from the instructions and guidelines dimension (4.48 ± 0.71) were the most important factors. type of requests from EMS were mostly unnecessary conversations (52.4%) and dispatching an ambulance (21.3%).CONCLUSIONS: Given the importance of emergency, it is required to promote the general public knowledge and culture, as well as stricter rules and training programs for all ages, should be considered to reduce false calls. On the other hand, prehospital emergency medical dispatcher personnel should be trained on how to deal with false calls

Perceived Safety Climate in Operating Rooms and Its Relationship with the Awareness of the Operating Room Staff about the Surgical Smoke Hazards: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background and Aim: Surgical smoke (SS), is caused by the use of high temperature devices such as electrocautery, laser and ultrasonic scalpel, which are used for cutting and coagulation of tissue during surgery, is considered as a serious threat to the health of operating room (OR) personnel. Various studies have identified the workplace safety climate as one of the main causes of the occurrence or prevention of occupational hazards. This study was conducted with the aim of Perceived Safety Climate (PSC) in ORs and its relationship with the awareness of the OR staff about the SS hazards. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from April 2021 to July 2022 in the ORs of 26 public hospitals affiliated to Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. In this research, 396 surgical and anesthesia technologists were included in the study by stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, PSC questionnaire and awareness about the hazards of SS questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS software Results: The knowledge of the OR staff regarding the hazards of surgical smoke was evaluated at a moderate level with a mean and standard deviation of 9.82±4.32 (range 0 to 21). The average knowledge score of surgical technologists (11.1±4.56) regarding the hazards of surgical smoke was significantly higher than the average score of anesthesia technologists (8.75±4.1)(P=0.02). The PSC in the OR was evaluated at moderate level with a mean and standard deviation of 62.15±11.1 (range 19 to 95). The results of linear regression analysis showed that the effect of PSC in increasing the awareness of OR staff about the hazards of SS was significant (P=0.001). By increasing one score to the total score of the PSC, the awareness score increases by 0.201. Conclusion: The safety climate of the OR can predict the awareness of the hazards of SS among OR staff. It is recommended to adopt strategies such as educating personnel about the hazards of SS and how to prevent it, creating a suitable supportive environment for personnel, and providing suitable protective facilities to prevent OR staff from being exposed to SS

Self-directed learning ability and its relationship with perceived perioperative competence in the senior undergraduate surgical technology students: A cross-sectional study

Background & Objective: Self-directed learning (SDL) as an effective strategy in surgical technology students can significantly help to improve their skills and clinical competence. The present study aimed to determine SDL ability and its relationship with Perceived Perioperative Competence in senior undergraduate surgical technology students. Materials & Methods: The present descriptive study was conducted based on a cross-sectional design. This research included 207 final-year surgical technology students via the census method. Data collection tools included a demographic characteristics form, the Self-Directed Learning Instrument (SDLI) developed by Su-Fen Cheng (2010), and the Perceived Perioperative Competence scale. After collecting the data, they were analyzed in  SPSS version software (version 20). Results: The mean SDL and clinical competence scores were reported as 73.8±8.9(intermediate level) and 107.2±17.3 (intermediate level), respectively. Among various dimensions of perceived clinical competence, interaction with colleagues had the highest value (3.4±0.6). Among the dimensions of SDL, interpersonal communication obtained the highest value (3.8±0.4). To investigate the relationship between SDL and clinical competence, Kendall's Tau and Spearman's correlation coefficients were obtained at 0.601 and 0.794, respectively, pointing to the significant positive relationship between the two variables (P<0.001). Conclusion: As evidenced by the obtained results, the SDL ability predicts the clinical competence of surgical technology students; therefore, revising the curricula of surgical technology students at the BS level and paying attention to the principle of student-centeredness in the education process, along with conducting training courses on SDL principles, can improve students' clinical competence