Document Type : Original Article
Authors
Medical Surgical Nursing Department, Trauma Nursing Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Falls are the most common cause of injuries in elderly population. This study
aimed to determine the quality of prehospital emergency services (EMS) for the elderly falls in 2017.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross‑sectional study was carried out at the Pre‑hospital
Emergency Center of Kashan in 2017. The sample consisted of elderly people who had reported fall
incidents in EMS. The questionnaire consisted of 7 areas with 54 items. Data collected by descriptive
and inferential statistics of Friedman and Mann–Whitney were analyzed by SPSS v. 16 software.
RESULTS: The number of elderly people was 150 (58% female) and the average age was
68.22 ± 6.75 years. Most falls (88.65%) occurred at home. The average performance scores (between
0 and 2) were as follows: assessment of the scene of the incident (1.51), primary assessment of the
elderly (1.46), airway management (1.64), circulation management (1.78), fixation (1.82), secondary
and continuous assessment (1.59), and patient transfer (1.68). It was found that secondary assessment
and transfer of the male patients were significantly higher in quality than female patients (P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: In this research, the quality of care in all areas was reported to be desirable. It is
recommended that the weaknesses of each area are investigated and the necessary strategies are
taken into account such as staff training, changes in data collection forms, and training for the elderly.
Keywords
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