Citation

Cardós-Alonso MC, Inzunza M, Gyllencreutz L, Espinosa S, Vazquez T, Fernandez MA, Blanco A, Cintora-Sanz AM. BMC Health Serv. Res. 2024; 24(1): e745.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2024, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s12913-024-11175-w

PMID

38890678

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Medical First Responders (MFRs) in the emergency department SUMMA 112 are tasked with handling the initial management of Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI) and building response capabilities. Training plays a crucial role in preparing these responders for effective disaster management. Yet, evaluating the impact of such training poses challenges since true competency can only be proven amid a major event. As a substitute gauge for training effectiveness, self-efficacy has been suggested.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to employ a pre- and post-test assessment of changes in perceived self-efficacy among MFRs following an intervention focused on the initial management of MCI. It also aimed to evaluate a self-efficacy instrument for its validity and reliability in this type of training.

METHOD: In this study, we used a pretest (time 1 = T1) - post-test (time 2 = T2) design to evaluate how self-efficacy changed after a training intervention with 201 MFRs in initial MCI management. ANOVA within-subjects and between subjects analyses were used.

RESULTS: The findings reveal a noteworthy change in self-efficacy before and after training among the 201 participants. This suggests that the training intervention positively affected participants' perceived capabilities to handle complex situations like MCI.

CONCLUSION: The results allow us to recommend a training program with theory components together with practical workshops and live, large-scale simulation exercises for the training of medical first responders in MCI, as it significantly increases their perception of the level of self-efficacy for developing competencies associated with disaster response.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Adult; Female; Male; Middle Aged; Surveys and Questionnaires; Emergency medical services; Self-efficacy; Simulation; Disaster Planning; *Emergency Responders/psychology/education; *Mass Casualty Incidents; *Self Efficacy; Disaster training; Mass casualty incidents