Pre-hospital emergency: analyzing the status of medication and equipment in pre-hospital emergency bases.

Abstract

Background: Pre-hospital emergency care is a comprehensive system that responds to the medical needs of injured patients outside of health care centers. The right equipment and facilities are necessary to provide proper and satisfactory services. Due to the increase in pre-hospital emergency services and the high prevalence of emergency events, the present study was conducted to investigate the status of medication and equipment in pre-hospital emergency bases and compare it with national standards.

Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in Iran in 2022-2023. Sampling was done in 46 urban and road bases using the census method. Data collection was done using two checklists. The first checklist, in 17 sections, was based on the latest edition of the instructions for medication and equipment of Iran's pre-hospital emergency organization. The second checklist included the specifications of the base. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics and SPSS25 software.

Results: Of the 46 bases included in the study, 41.3% were urban bases and the rest were road bases. The mean age for building the bases was 13.76±9.47 years (the minimum was one year and the maximum was 45 years). The mean score of the status of medication and equipment in the bases was 224.34 ± 32.05 (minimum score 155 and maximum 322), which was 56.09% of the total score. The highest score was obtained in the medication section of the patient cabin (81.88%) and the lowest score was in the CBRNe bag equipment section (4.55%).

Conclusions: The results showed that the status of the medication and equipment of the pre-hospital emergency bases is far from the standards. This long distance can affect the quality of pre-hospital emergency services. Resolving deficiencies and reaching standards requires more attention.