Effect of Field Triage Training on Emergency Medical Technicians in Taipei City.

Résumé

Injury is a leading cause of death among young adults. An accurately implemented fi led triage scheme (FTS) by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) is the first step for delivering right patients to the right hospital. However, the training effect of FTS on EMTs with different levels and backgrounds has scarcely been reported. We evaluated training effects of FTS among EMTs in Taipei. Standard FTS contains physiologic status, anatomical sites of injury, and mechanism of injury criteria. The intervention was a 30-minute lecture and pre-and-post tests, each containing five questions about trauma severity judgment (i.e., mechanism of injury [2 questions], anatomic sites of injury [2 questions], and physiological status [1 question]). The change in EMT accuracy was measured before and after training. Subgroup analyses were performed across EMTs with different levels and seniorities. From September 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016, 821 EMTs were enrolled, including 740 EMT-intermediates and 81 paramedics. Overall, EMT accuracy improved after the intervention in the intermediate (73.2% vs. 85.5%, p < 0.05) and paramedic (76.0% vs. 85.7%, p