Facilitators and barriers to collaboration between pre-hospital emergency and emergency department in traffic accidents: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Death caused by traffic accidents is one of the major problems of health systems in low- and middle-income countries. Rapid handover of the traffic accident victims and proper collaboration between the pre-hospital and emergency departments (EDs) play a critical role in improving the treatment process and decreasing the number of accidental deaths. Considering the importance of the collaboration between pre-hospital and emergency departments, this study was designed to investigate the facilitators and barriers of collaboration between pre-hospital and emergency departments in traffic accidents. METHOD: This research is a qualitative study using content analysis. In order to collect data, semi-structured interviews were used. Seventeen subjects (including pre-hospital and emergency department personnel, emergency medicine specialists, and hospital managers) were selected through purposive sampling and were interviewed. After transcribing and reviewing interviews, data analysis was performed with the qualitative content analysis approach. RESULTS: The participants consisted of 17 individuals (15 persons in pre-hospital and emergency departments with at least three years of work experience, one emergency medicine specialist and one hospital manager) who were selected by purposive sampling. The interviews were analyzed and three main categories and seven sub-categories were extracted. The main categories included "individual capabilities", "development of mutual understanding", and "infrastructures and processes". DISCUSSION: Proper and practical planning and policymaking to strengthen facilitators and eliminate barriers to collaborate between pre-hospital and emergency departments are key points in promoting collaboration between these two important sectors of health system and reducing the traffic accident casualties in Iran.

Using Artificial Intelligence for Predicting the Duration of Emergency Evacuation During Hospital Fire.

OBJECTIVE: A danger threatening hospitals is fire. The most important action following a fire is to urgently evacuate the hospital during the shortest time possible. The aim of this study was to predict the duration of emergency evacuation following hospital fire using machine-learning algorithms. METHODS: In this study, the real emergency evacuation duration of 190 patients admitted to a hospital was predicted in a simulation based on the following 8 factors: the number of hospital floors, patient preparation and transfer time, distance to the safe location, as well as patient's weight, age, sex, and movement capability. To design and validate the model, we used statistical models of machine learning, including Support Vector Machines Random Forest, Naive Bayes Classifier, and Artificial Neural Network. RESULTS: Data analysis showed that based on the Area Under the Curve, precision, and sensitivity values of 99.5%, 92.4%, and 92.1%, respectively, the Random Forest model showed a better performance compared to other models for predicting the duration of hospital emergency evacuation during fire. CONCLUSION: Predicting evacuation duration can provide managers with accurate information and true analyses of these events. Therefore, health policy makers and managers can promote preparedness and responsiveness during fire by predicting evacuation duration and developing appropriate plans using machine learning models.

Factors Influencing Hospital Emergency Evacuation during Fire: A Systematic Literature Review.

BACKGROUND: Although the hospital is known as a safe place for treating patients, due to various reasons, it is prone to several internal hazards, including fire. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting hospital emergency evacuation during fire. METHODS: This was a systematic review conducted according to the PRISMA guideline. Thematic Content analysis was utilized to analyze and extract results. We found the studies investigating the factors affecting hospital emergency evacuation during fire through a comprehensive search in various data resources (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Embase, ProQuest, Scopus, IRANMEDEX, SID, ISC, and Magiran) and other sources from the beginning of January 2000 to the end of December 2019. Thematic Content analysis was also employed to analyze. RESULTS: At first and based on the initial search, 4484 studies were identified, and 48 articles were finally included in the study. Based on the results; five main themes along with 10 sub-themes were identified. The themes included the incident's characteristics, response measures, hospital preparedness, hospital residents, and hospital building, and the sub-themes were emergency evacuation features, fire characteristics, command, operation, patients' and staff's characteristics, planning, logistics, and structure and design hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of the present study, hospital preparedness as one of the most important factors can reduce the hospital evacuation time. Therefore, hospitals can ensure a timely and more effective response in emergency evacuation during fire by improving their preparedness.

Factors affecting development of air ambulance base: A systematic review and thematic analysis.

Nowadays, air ambulances have been developed as part of advanced emergency medicine services with many countries employing these services for transferring patients in usual and emergency conditions. However, there are challenges concerning the optimal development of air ambulance base. The present research aimed to identify factors affecting the development of air ambulance bases to provide the opportunity of planning to improve the quality of emergency medical services. In this systematic literature review, the peer-reviewed papers in fiv electronic databases, including Medline through PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and ProQuest, as well as available gray literature, were searched and selected. Two combinations of groups were used as keywords: the Health Planning and development factor, air ambulance base. The focus was on the PRISMA checklist, with no time limitations until from 1990 to January 2020. Finally, through 5156 related citations, 20 articles were included. Descriptive and thematic content analyses were evaluated. The factors affecting the development of the air ambulance base were classified in fiv categories and 14 subcategories as follows: navigation criteria, process indications and standards, sociopolitical factors, and current situation of the area. There are few studies on factors affecting the development of air ambulance bases. It is necessary to apply multidimensional models to consider various factors for development. The development of high populated cities, events and ceremonies with a crowd of participants, and increase of human-made disasters are making these services increasingly indispensable.

Factors affecting emergency evacuation of Iranian hospitals in fire: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Fire is one of the most important threatening factors for hospitals and needs special attention. The present study was conducted to explain the factors affecting hospital emergency evacuation following fire based on hospital administrators' experiences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a qualitative study conducted employing the content analysis approach. Participants included 22 hospital administrators in Tehran, Lorestan, Kurdistan, and Ilam provinces. The participants were purposefully selected and included until reaching principle of data saturation. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews from November 2019 to August 2020 and analyzed by the content analysis method. RESULTS: Factors affecting hospital emergency evacuation during fire were categorized into five main categories and 17 subcategories including response to incident (five subcategories of fire nature, emergency evacuation, service provision, coordination and communication; and collaboration and companionship), human factors (two subcategories of individual characteristics and competencies), hospital preparedness (three subcategories of planning, safety and security; and information management system), environmental factors (two subcategories of hospital design and infrastructure; and weather condition), and finally ethical values (five subcategories of human dignity, trust, altruism, responsibility and accountability; and empathy). CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that during fire in Iranian hospitals, several factors in addition to available standard guidelines affect the emergency evacuation process that need to be considered. Hospital emergency evacuation during fire is a complex process and necessitates a full and high-level hospital preparedness, so using the results of this study can be used to develop and practice evacuation plans and improve the hospital preparedness.

Challenges of Cooperation between the Pre-hospital and In-hospital Emergency services in the handover of victims of road traffic accidents: A Qualitative Study.

OBJECTIVES: To take a deep look at the challenges of cooperation between the pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency services in the handover of victims of road traffic accidents. METHODS: This is a qualitative study and the method used is of content analysis type. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data. Through purposive sampling, fifteen employees from ambulance personnel and hospital emergency staff were selected and interviewed. They expressed their experiences of cooperation between these two teams in the handover of traffic accident casualties. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and content analysis method was used to explain and interpret the content of the interviews. RESULTS: Three major categories were derived from the analysis of interviews: Shortage of infrastructure resources (Shortage of equipment, Shortage of physical space, and Shortage of manpower); Inefficient and unscientific management (Shaky accountability, Out-of-date information based activities, Poor motivation, and Manpower low productivity); and Non-common language (Difference in understanding and empathy, and Difference in training and experience). CONCLUSIONS: The obtained results of this study suggest that the careful planning of resources, the promotion of managerial practices as well as empowerment program of the staff, healthcare managers and policymakers can take a pace forward in order to enter into a hearty coordination between these two services for the attention of victims of road traffic accidents.

Challenges of Cooperation between the Pre-hospital and In-hospital Emergency services in the handover of victims of road traffic accidents: A Qualitative Study

Objective. To take a deep look at the challenges of cooperation between the pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency services in the handover of victims of road traffic accidents. Methods. This is a qualitative study and the method used is of content analysis type. Semistructured interviews were used to collect the data. Through purposive sampling, fifteen employees from ambulance personnel and hospital emergency staff were selected and interviewed. They expressed their experiences of cooperation between these two teams in the handover of traffic accident casualties. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and content analysis method was used to explain and interpret the content of the interviews. Results. Three major categories were derived from the analysis of interviews: Shortage of infrastructureresources (Shortage of equipment, Shortage of physical space, and Shortage of manpower); Inefficient and unscientific management (Shaky accountability, Out-ofdate information based activities, Poor motivation, and Manpower low productivity); and Non-common language (Difference in understanding and empathy, and Difference in training and experience). Conclusion. The obtained results of this study suggest that the careful planning of resources, the promotion of managerial practices as well as empowerment program of the staff, healthcare managers and policymakers can take a pace forward in order to enter into a hearty coordination between these two services for the attention of victims of road traffic accidents.

Objetivo. Examinar los desafíos para la cooperación entre los servicios de emergencias prehospitalarias y hospitalarias en la entrega de víctimas de accidentes de tránsito. Métodos. Estudio cualitativo con análisis de contenido. Se utilizaron entrevistas semiestructuradas para la recopilación de los datos. Se seleccionaron y entrevistaron quince personas de los equipos de atención prehospitalaria y del servicio de emergencias de un hospital a partir del muestreo intencional. Los participantes expresaron sus experiencias de cooperación entre estos dos grupos en la entrega de víctimas de accidentes de tráfico. Las entrevistas se transcribieron textualmente y se utilizó el análisis de contenido para explicar e interpretar el contenido de las entrevistas. Resultados. Emergieron tres categorías principales: Escasez de recursos de infraestructura (equipos, espacio físico y de personal); Gestión ineficiente y no científica (responsabilidad inestable, actividades basadas en información desactualizada, motivación deficiente, y baja productividad de personal); y Lenguaje no común (diferencia en comprensión y empatía, y diferencia en capacitación y experiencia). Conclusión. Los resultados obtenidos en este estudio muestran dificultades con la planificación de los recursos y la promoción de las prácticas de gestión, así como la necesidad de un programa de empoderamiento del personal. Se deben formular políticas para poder avanzar en el mejoramiento de la coordinación de los servicios en la atención a víctimas de accidentes de tráfico.

Objetivo. Examinar os desafios para a cooperação entre os serviços de emergências pré-hospitalar e hospitalar na entrega de vítimas de acidentes de trânsito. Métodos. Estudo qualitativo com análise de conteúdo. Se utilizaram entrevistas semiestruturadas para a recopilação dos dados. Através da amostra intencional se selecionaram e entrevistaram quinze pessoas das equipes de atenção pré-hospitalar e do serviço de emergências de um hospital. Os participantes expressaram suas experiências de cooperação entre estes dois grupos na entrega de vítimas de acidentes de trânsito. As entrevistas se transcreveram textualmente e se utilizou a análise de conteúdo para explicar e interpretar o conteúdo das entrevistas. Resultados. Emergiram três categorias principais: Escassez de recursos de infraestrutura (equipamentos, espaço físico e de pessoal); Gestão ineficiente e não científica (responsabilidade instável, atividades baseadas em informação desatualizada, motivação deficiente, e baixa produtividade de pessoal); e Linguagem não comum (diferença em compreensão e empatia, e diferença em capacitação e experiência). Conclusão. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo mostram dificuldades com a planificação dos recursos e a promoção das práticas de gestão, assim como a necessidade de um programa de empoderamento do pessoal. Se devem formular políticas para poder avançar no melhoramento da coordenação dos serviços na atenção as vítimas de acidentes de trânsito.

Information flow in the pharmaceutical supply chain.

Managing the supply chain plays an important role in creating competitive advantages for companies. Adequate information flow in supply chain is one of the most important issues in SCM. Therefore, using certain Information Systems can have a significant role in managing and integrating data and information within the supply chain. Pharmaceutical supply chain is more complex than many other supply chains, in the sense that it can affect social and political perspectives. On the other hand, managing the pharmaceutical supply chain is difficult because of its complexity and also government regulations in this field. Although, Iran has progressed a lot in pharmaceutical manufacturing, still there are many unsolved issues in managing the information flow in the pharmaceutical supply chain. In this study, we reviewed the benefits of using different levels of an integrated information system in the supply chain and the possible challenges ahead.