Emergency Medical Services System in Hong Kong: A Pearl in the South China Sea

1997 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 31-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Kalinowski ◽  
Frederick M. Burkle
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
South China Sea ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Scope Of Practice ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Evolving Model ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractEach Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system is unique in its development and scope of practice. In many instances, incorporates components of other models, It is important to the intellectual growth of the Emergency Medical Technicians that they visualize EMS design from an international perspective. This article describes the EMS system that exists in Hong Kong. It explores the changes that are occurring, defines the relationship between Hong Kong and China, and considers the influence that this evolving model might have on China after 1997.

Job Stressors and Job Satisfaction in a Major Metropolitan Public EMS Service

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 32-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Shelby Bowron ◽  
Knox H. Todd
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Career Choice ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Advanced Life Support ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Job Stressors ◽  
Emergency Medical

AbstractIntroduction:Behavioral and social science research suggests that job satisfaction and job performance are positively correlated. It is important that Emergency Medical Services managers identify predictors of job satisfaction in order to maximize job performance among prehospital personnel.Purpose:Identify job stressors that predict the level of job satisfaction among prehospital personnel.Methods:The study was conducted with in a large, urban Emergency Medical Services (Emergency Medical Services) service performing approximately 60,000 Advanced Life Support (Advanced Life Support) responses annually. Using focus groups and informal interviews, potential predictors of global job satisfaction were identified. These factors included: interactions with hospital nurses and physicians; on-line communications; dispatching; training provided by the ambulance service; relationship with supervisors and; standing orders as presently employed by the ambulance service. These factors were incorporated into a 21 item questionnaire including one item measuring global job satisfaction, 14 items measuring potential predictors of satisfaction, and seven questions exploring demographic information such as age, gender, race, years of experience, and years with the company. The survey was administered to all paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (Emergency Medical Technicians s) Results of the survey were analyzed using univariate and multivariate techniques to identify predictors of global job satisfaction.Results:Ninety paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians participated in the study, a response rate of 57.3%. Job satisfaction was cited as extremely satisfying by 11%, very satisfying by 29%, satisfying by 45%, and not satisfying by 15% of respondents. On univariate analysis, only the quality of training, quality of physician interaction, and career choice were associated with global job satisfaction. On multivariate analysis, only career choice (p = 0.005) and quality of physician interaction (p = 0.05) were predictive of global job satisfactionConclusion:Quality of career choice and interactions with physicians are predictive of global job satisfaction within this urban emergency medical service (Emergency Medical Technicians). Future studies should examine specific characteristics of the physician-paramedic interface that influence job satisfaction and attempt to generalize these results to other settings.

scholarly journals Temperature and age–gender effects on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-90
Author(s):  
Chien Tat Low ◽  
Poh Chin Lai ◽  
Paul Sai Shun Yeung ◽  
Axel Yuet Chung Siu ◽  
Kelvin Tak Yiu Leung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
Elderly Age ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Introduction: Temperature is a key factor influencing the occurrence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, yet there is no equivalent study in Hong Kong. This study reports results involving a large-scale territory-wide investigation on the impacts of ambient temperature and age–gender differences on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcome in Hong Kong. Methods: This study included 25,467 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases treated by the Hong Kong Fire Services Department between December 2011 and November 2016 inclusive. Simple correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases and temperature, age and gender. Calendar charts were used to visualise temporal patterns of pre-hospital emergency medical services related to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases. Results: A strong negative curvilinear relationship was found between out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and daily temperature (r2 > 0.9) with prominent effects on elderly people aged ≥85 years. For each unit decrease in mean temperature in °C, there was a maximum of 5.6% increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest cases among all age groups and 7.3% increase in the ≥85 years elderly age group. Men were slightly more at risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest compared with women. The demand for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest–related emergency medical services was highest between 06:00 and 11:00 in the wintertime. Conclusion: This study provides the first local evidence linking weather and demographic effects with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Hong Kong. It offers empirical evidence to policymakers in support of strengthening existing emergency medical services to deal with the expected increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the wintertime and in regions with a large number of elderly population.

Differences in Cardiovascular Health Metrics in Emergency Medical Technicians Compared to Paramedics: A Cross-Sectional Study of Emergency Medical Services Professionals

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (03) ◽  
pp. 288-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca E. Cash ◽  
Remle P. Crowe ◽  
Julie K. Bower ◽  
Randi E. Foraker ◽  
Ashish R. Panchal
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Cardiovascular Health ◽  
High Stress ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Lower Odds ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Employment Characteristics

AbstractBackground:Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals face high physical demands in high-stress settings; however, the prevalence of cardiovascular health (CVH) risk factors in this health care workforce has not been explored. The primary objective of this study was to compare the distribution of CVH and its individual components between a sample of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics. The secondary objective was to identify associations between demographic and employment characteristics with ideal CVH in EMS professionals.Methods:A cross-sectional survey based on the American Heart Association’s (AHA; Dallas, Texas USA) Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) was administered to nationally-certified EMTs and paramedics. The LS7 components were scored according to previously described cut points (ideal = 2; intermediate = 1; poor = 0). A composite CVH score (0-10) was calculated from the component scores, excluding cholesterol and blood glucose due to missing data. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR; 95% CI) for demographic and employment characteristics associated with optimal CVH (≥7 points).Results:There were 24,708 respondents that were currently practicing and included. More EMTs achieved optimal CVH (n = 4,889; 48.8%) compared to paramedics (n = 4,338; 40.6%). Factors associated with higher odds of optimal CVH included: higher education level (eg, college graduate or more: OR = 2.26; 95% CI, 1.97-2.59); higher personal income (OR = 1.26; 95% CI, 1.17-1.37); and working in an urban versus rural area (OR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.23-1.40). Paramedic certification level (OR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.78-0.91), older age (eg, 50 years or older: OR = 0.65; 95% CI, 0.58-0.73), male sex (OR = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.50-0.56), working for a non-fire-based agency (eg, private service: OR = 0.68; 95% CI, 0.62-0.74), and providing medical transport service (OR = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.69-0.94) were associated with lower odds of optimal CVH.Conclusions:Several EMS-related characteristics were associated with lower odds of optimal CVH. Future studies should focus on better understanding the CVH and metabolic risk profiles for EMS professionals and their association with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD), major cardiac events, and occupational mortality.Cash RE, Crowe RP, Bower JK, Foraker RE, Panchal AR. Differences in cardiovascular health metrics in emergency medical technicians compared to paramedics: a crosssectional study of Emergency Medical Services professionals.Prehosp Disaster Med.2019;34(3):288–296.

Factors Associated with Emergency Medical Services Scope of Practice for Acute Cardiovascular Events

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ishmael Williams ◽  
Amy L. Valderrama ◽  
Patricia Bolton ◽  
April Greek ◽  
Sophia Greer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Cardiovascular Events ◽  
Scope Of Practice ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Emergency Medical

scholarly journals Workplace Violence in Asian Emergency Medical Services: A Pilot Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (20) ◽  
pp. 3936
Author(s):  
Pei-Yu Wang ◽  
Pin-Hui Fang ◽  
Chen-Long Wu ◽  
Hsiang-Chin Hsu ◽  
Chih-Hao Lin
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medical Services ◽  
Workplace Violence ◽  
Questionnaire Survey ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Emergency Medical Technicians ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Emergency Medical ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
College Educated

Workplace violence among Asian emergency medical services (EMS) has rarely been examined. A cross-sectional, mainly descriptive study using a standardized, paper-based, self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted between August and October 2018 among emergency medical technicians (EMTs) in the Tainan City Fire Bureau, Taiwan. A total of 152 EMT-paramedics responded to the questionnaire survey, constituting an overall response rate of 96.2%. The participants were predominantly male (96.1%), college-educated (4-year bachelor’s degree) (49.3%), and middle-aged (35–44 years old) (63.8%). Among them, 113 (74.3%) and 75 (49.3%) participants had experienced verbal and physical assaults at work, respectively. Only 12 (7.9%) participants were familiar with relevant regulations or codes. The assaults predominantly occurred during evening shifts (16:00–24:00) and at the scene of the emergency. The most predominant violence perpetrators included patients, patients’ families, or patients’ friends. Nearly 10% of participants had experienced verbal assaults from hospital personnel. EMTs who encountered workplace violence rarely completed a paper report, filed for a lawsuit, or sought a psychiatric consultation. Fifty-eight (38.2%) and 16 (10.5%) participants were victims of frequent (at least once every 3 months) verbal and physical forms of violence, respectively; however, no statistically significant association was observed in terms of EMT gender, age, working years, education level, or the number of EMS deployments per month. The prevalence of workplace violence among Asian EMS is considerable and is comparable to that in Western countries. Strategies to prevent workplace violence should be tailored to local practice and effectively implemented.

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