Self-Assessment of Biomedical Activity Related to Medical Devices Embedded in EMS Ambulances: Towards a Roadmap for an Efficient Improvement

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-130
Author(s):  
Abdelghani Moussaid ◽  
Hassan Bouaouine ◽  
Nabil Ngote

Objective: The present investigation is focused on a self-assessment of the biomedical activity related to embedded Medical Devices on board a fleet of 46 EMS medicalized ambulances, according to the High Authority of Health standard (criterion 8K) and the Guide of the Good Practices of Biomedical Engineering. Materials and Methods: The methodology adopted for this purpose is based on an analysis allowing the evaluation and observation of practices related to biomedical activity in these ambulances. An initial assessment, carried out in March 2021, made it possible to measure the gaps between the actual situation and the recommendations of the two self-diagnosis tools (High Authority of Health and Guide of the Good Practices of Biomedical Engineering standards). A series of corrective actions were proposed and then implemented. A second self-assessment took place after 6 months, in October 2021. Results: Between March and October 2021, an improvement in the scores for almost all the axes of the two self-assessment tools was noted. Indeed, the score of the self-assessment for the High Authority of Health reference system rose from 44% in March 2021 to 63% in October 2021, i.e. an increase of 19%, and that of the Guide of the Good Practices of Biomedical Engineering increased from 67.54% in March 2021 to 80.96% in October 2021, i.e. an increase of 13.42%. Conclusion: The implementation of a maintenance strategy integrating the notion of quality, relevant procedures and pertinent work tools has made it possible to significantly improve the biomedical activity within the medical ambulances and to optimise the embedded medical devices.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 213
Author(s):  
Rezaul Chowdhury

Engineering education must embrace several challenges, such as increased numbers of work-based students, increased demand for online education, mismatches in employability skills and industry requirements, and lack of student engagement. The hydrology course at the University of Southern Queensland attracts more than 100 students every year, where more than 70% of students are off-campus and most of them are work-based. This study explored how an online hydrology course can embrace industry practice and engage students in order to achieve learning outcomes. Industrial careers in hydrology involve extensive use of hydroclimatological data and modeling applications. The course modules, learning objectives and outcomes, and assessment tools have been designed to align with industry practices. Active participation of students was observed in self-assessment quizzes and discussion forums. The course was rated very well in achieving learning outcomes and in overall student satisfaction. Students appreciated the well-structured real-world and professional practice in the course.


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S151-S151
Author(s):  
L. Zun ◽  
L. Downey

BackgroundIncreasingly, psychiatric patients are presenting to the emergency department (ED) with agitation. ED staff rarely, if ever, use scale to assess agitation or use any self-assessment tools to determine a patient's level of agitation.ObjectivesTo evaluate the relationship between a patient's self-reported level of agitation and other validated agitation assessment tools.MethodsThis is a prospective study using a convenience sample of patients presenting to the ED with a psychiatric complaint. This study was conducted in an urban, inner-city trauma level 1 center with 55,000 ED visits a year. After obtaining consent, a research fellow administered observational tools, PANSS-EC and ACES and BAM and Likert scale self assessment tools on arrival to the ED. SPSS version 24 was used. The study was IRB approved.ResultsA total of 139 patients were enrolled. The most common ED diagnoses were depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar. Majority of patients were African-American (59%), falling in the 25–44 year old age range (56%) 52% male. Self-reported agitation was rated as moderate to high in 72.4% of these patients on the Likert scale and 76.3% on the BAM. There was a significant correlation between the self-reported score versus the BAM (F = 11.2, P = 0.00). However, the self-reported scores were significantly different from the scores assessed by observational tools (P < 0.05).ConclusionsED providers should assess a patient's self-reported level of agitation because a patient could be feeling markedly agitated without expressing outward signs detected by observational tools.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.


Author(s):  
Katalin Dózsa ◽  
Fruzsina Mezei ◽  
Tamás Tóth ◽  
Ábel Perjés ◽  
Péter Pollner

Abstract Background: Expectations towards general practitioners (GPs) are continuously increasing to provide a more systematic preventive- and definitive-based care, a wider range of multidisciplinary team-based services and to integrate state-of-the-art digital solutions into daily practice. Aided by development programmes, Hungarian primary care is facing the challenge to fulfil its role as the provider of comprehensive, high quality, patient-centred, preventive care, answering the challenges caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Aim: The article aims to provide an insight into the utilization of simple, digital, medical devices. We show the relationship between the primary health care (PHC) practice models and the used types of devices. We point at further development directions of GP practices regarding the utilization of evidence-based medical technologies and how such devices support the screening and chronic care of patients with NCDs in everyday practice. Methods: Data were collected using an online self-assessment questionnaire from 1800 Hungarian GPs registered in Hungary. Descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon’s test and χ2 test were applied to analyze the ownership and utilization of 32 types of medical devices, characteristics of the GP practices and to highlight the differences between traditional and cluster-based operating model. Findings: Based on the responses from 27.7% of all Hungarian GPs, the medical device infrastructure was found to be limited especially in single GP-practices. Those involved in development projects of GP’s clusters in the last decade reported a wider range and significantly more intensive utilization of evidence-based technologies (average number of devices: 5.42 versus 7.56, P<.001), but even these GPs are not using some of their devices (e.g., various point of care testing devices) due to the lack of financing. In addition, GPs involved in GPs-cluster development model programmes showed significantly greater willingness for sharing relatively expensive, extra workforce-demanding technologies (χ2 = 24.5, P<.001).


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Petitet ◽  
Jacqueline Scholl ◽  
Bahaaeddin Attaallah ◽  
Daniel Drew ◽  
Sanjay Manohar ◽  
...  

AbstractApathy and impulsivity are debilitating conditions associated with many neuropsychiatric conditions, and expressed to variable degrees in healthy people. While some theories suggest that they lie at different ends of a continuum, others suggest their possible co-existence. Surprisingly little is known, however, about their empirical association in the general population. Here, gathering data from six large studies ($$n = 3755$$ n = 3755 ), we investigated the relationship between measures of apathy and impulsivity in young adults. The questionnaires included commonly used self-assessment tools—Apathy Evaluation Scale, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and UPPS-P Scale—as well as a more recent addition, the Apathy Motivation Index (AMI). Remarkably, across datasets and assessment tools, global measures of apathy and impulsivity correlated positively. However, analysis of sub-scale scores revealed a more complex relationship. Although most dimensions correlated positively with one another, there were two important exceptions revealed using the AMI scale. Social apathy was mostly negatively correlated with impulsive behaviour, and emotional apathy was orthogonal to all other sub-domains. These results suggest that at a global level, apathy and impulsivity do not exist at distinct ends of a continuum. Instead, paradoxically, they most often co-exist in young adults. Processes underlying social and emotional apathy, however, appear to be different and dissociable from behavioural apathy and impulsivity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Camillo Fezza ◽  
Stephanie Sansone ◽  
Robert Nolan

BACKGROUND Task force statements support the use of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational interviewing (MI) to promote self-care in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). Digital counseling interventions have the potential to complement conventional programs. However, therapeutic components of digital programs that are associated with improved outcomes are not clearly established. OBJECTIVE Identify therapeutic components of the Canadian e-Platform to Promote Behavioral Self-Management in Chronic Heart Failure (CHF-CePPORT) protocol that were associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQL). METHODS Ordinal logistic regression was used to identify the therapeutic components of the CHF-CePPORT protocol. The primary outcome was the 12-month Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire: Overall Summary (KCCQ-OS) tertile. Logistic regressions determined the association between 12-month KCCQ-OS tertile, using logon hours for key segments of the protocol, modality of content delivery, and clinical themes. RESULTS Patients (n = 117) in this study were enrolled in the e-Counseling arm of the CHF-CePPORT trial. Median age was 60 years (IQR 52-69). Total logon hours in the initial 4-month segment of CHF-CePPORT (Sessions 1-16) was associated with increased 12-month KCCQ-OS tertile (Odds Ratio, OR = 1.31, 95% CI, 1.1-1.5, P = 0.001). Within sessions 1-16, improved KCCQ-OS was associated with logon hours for self-assessment tools/trackers (OR = 1.49, 95% CI, 1.1-2.0, P = 0.007), and videos (OR = 1.57, 95% CI, 1.03-2.4, P = 0.04), but not for CHF information pages. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the importance of using evidence-based guidelines from CBT and MI as core components of digital counseling, delivered through videos and interactive tools/trackers, to improve HRQL with CHF. CLINICALTRIAL CHF-CePPORT Trial ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01864369


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-407
Author(s):  
Sebastian Buhl ◽  
Carina Werner ◽  
Clemens Bulitta

AbstractA current FDA guidance demands the validation of cleaning and disinfecting protocols even for non-sterile medical devices. The aim of this work is to clarify whether this is already possible using the guidance itself as well as the German DIN EN ISO 17664. An angiography system (Artis Zeego / Pheno - Siemens) was selected as a test object for the validation of a cleaning and disinfection protocol for medical devices in a hybrid operating room. In pilot study prior to the trial, critical points of the system were evaluated by means of questionnaires to clinical users (OTA, surgical technicians). An initial assessment of the in-house cleaning protocols used in the hospitals was done by using a fluorescence assay. The microbiological examination took place subsequently by contact plates and swabbing to determine the amount and type of germs on the surfaces of the system. These experiments were done at three different clinical sites. It was found that there was a significant germ count on several surfaces of the product even after in-house cleaning and disinfection (C&D). After application of an enhanced C&D plan, these germs could be greatly reduced at all verified sites. In addition, it could be shown that DIN EN ISO 17664 can in principle be applied to non-sterile medical products.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Mahmoud Thawabieh

This study aimed to compare between the students' self-assessment and teachers’ assessment. The study sampleconsisted of 71 students at Tafila Technical University studying Introduction to Psychology course. The researcherused 2 students' self-assessment tools and 2 tests. The results indicated that students can assess themselves accuratelyif they are trained how to implement self-assessment.


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