The Effect of Thermal Care Workshop on EMS Staff Readiness in managing Accidental Hypothermia in Trauma Patients

Abstract

Background: Hypothermia is a common complication in trauma patients. Studies show that the management of hypothermia in trauma patients in the pre-hospital phase may be underestimated. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of thermal care workshop on the staff readiness to manage hypothermia in trauma patients. Methods: This quasi-experimental study utilized convenience sampling after obtaining the approval of the Research Ethics Committee and involved 60 qualified EMS staff who were divided into two groups including: intervention group (30 technicians) and control group (30 technicians). The intervention group received the treatment in the form of a workshop. Nonetheless, the control group did not receive any educational intervention. The data were collected before, immediately after and 45 days after the workshop to determine EMS staff readiness using a validated researcher-made questionnaire. In this study, the significance level was 0.5. Results: There was a significant difference between the posttest results of the control group and the intervention group (p<0.001). Moreover, in the intervention group, there were significant differences between the pretest results and the two posttest results (p<0.001). Finally, the readiness gained after the workshop lasted for 45 days. Conclusion: The thermal care workshop enhanced the readiness of emergency medical personnel. The generalization of the results of this study is restricted due to the fact that random selection and random assignment of participants were not possible in the present study. It is recommended that more robust studies be designed to evaluate, prevent and manage hypothermia in trauma patients in the pre-hospital phase.

Knowledge and practice of nurses with respect to perioperative hypothermia prevention in the Northwest Amhara Regional State Referral Hospitals, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

“…Nurses’ knowledge and practice were higher among nurses who received training related to hypothermia prevention compared with those who did not. This finding is supported by other studies in America, 38 Brazil, 41 Iran 26 and Turkey. 4 This can be explained by the fact that training plays an important role in improving the quality of patient care.…”

“…This study also dictates that nurses who had BSc and master’s degrees were more likely to have good knowledge of hypothermia prevention compared with those who only had a diploma. This finding is supported by studies conducted in Iran 26 and Brazil. 14 This implies that educational interventions are fundamental for nurses to improve their scientific knowledge, which, in turn, increase the quality of patient care.…”

“…The questionnaires were developed based on AORN and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) perioperative hypothermia prevention guidelines and other literature 3 13 15 21 34 35. In addition to the outcome variable, the tool contains sociodemographic, institutional and other factors13 15 26 27 33 36 (online supplemental file 1). Five BSc nurses working outside the study wards and two MSc nurses were recruited for the data collection and supervision, respectively.…”

“…Even if nurses’ knowledge and practice are important in preventing perioperative hypothermia and its complications, available literature revealed that nurses had significant knowledge and practice gaps 13 15. Different sociodemographic and institutional factors affect nurses’ knowledge and practice, such as age, marital status, educational level, work experience, guidelines and risk assessment protocols, training, reading of updated evidence and job satisfaction 2 13 15 26 27…”

Accidental hypothermia and related risk factors among trauma patients in prehospital setting

“…Numerous sources, including research studies, case studies, and anecdotal information, are used to support hypothermia studies. The causes of hypothermia in the prehospital stage have not been thoroughly studied, despite the fact that many processes and several states of hypothermia are widely known and documented in the pertinent literature [11]. In these situations, it has been demonstrated that early diagnosis and treatment of hypothermia lower the severity of the injury [12,13].…”