[Analysis of functioning of two-person primary care emergency medical team - single-centre study].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Introduction: Under the Act on State Emergency Medicine System, an emergency medical team consists of at least two members, including a specialist system nurse or paramedic, who have the license to perform medical rescue activities. However, this does not exclude the possibility of expanding the team. In practice, however, it appears that in most cases a head of healthcare institution decides to have teams with a number of members limited to two persons in which a paramedic or nurse also fulfil the function of a driver. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials rial and methods: An originally designed questionnaire was used to collect data. The sample group included 138 employees working in two-person emergency medical teams at the Regional Ambulance Station in Poznan. RESULTS: Results: Over half of the subjects (N=90; 65,2%) rarely requests assistance from another emergency medical team as support in intervention, however, when transporting patients such teams are often assisted by patients' families (N=129; 93,5%). The patient's weight is one of the most frequently cited reasons for using such assistance. Every third respondent knows standards on weight limits for manual transport. 77,5 % of respondents believe that the Act on State Emergency Medicine should be amended by increasing the minimum number of members in primary care emergency medical teams from two to three. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: It may be concluded that formation of two-person teams constitutes an infringement of occupational health and safety regulations on manual transport, which increases the risk of injury occurrence.