The Prevalence of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus among Out-of-Hospital Care Providers and Emergency Medical Technician Students

Abstract

We found that out-of-hospital care providers and EMT students had higher nasal colonization rates than the reported rate for the U.S. population (0.084% at the time the study was conducted and 1.5% currently). It is imperative that both groups adhere to infection control practices.

Evaluation of Ambulance Decontamination Using Gaseous Chlorine Dioxide

“…The potential for personnel and environmental contamination of ambulances with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and vancomycin-resistant entercocci through transport of infected patients has been established. 17,18 Additionally, several studies have documented MRSA environmental contamination in ambulances. 4,[18][19][20][21][22][23] Higher rates of MRSA colonization among paramedics and emergency medical technician (EMT) students further highlights the potential for environmental reservoirs in prehospital environments.…”

“…4,[18][19][20][21][22][23] Higher rates of MRSA colonization among paramedics and emergency medical technician (EMT) students further highlights the potential for environmental reservoirs in prehospital environments. 17 Guidelines have been suggested for selecting a protocol for decontaminating buildings following a biological event, but no guidelines have been established for ambulance decontamination based on a lack of data on this subject. 24 Manual-surface-cleaning protocols have been established and practiced for ambulance cleaning, yet some studies suggest these protocols are inadequate to limit routine environmental contamination.…”

MRSA prevalence among patient transport staff in Hamburg

“…The risk factors they found were insufficient hand disinfection after glove use (OR 10.51; 95% CI 2.54–43.45) and low frequency of hand washing (<8 times per shift) (OR 4.20; 95% CI 1.02–17.27). In another study, Miramonti et al [6] investigated and compared PTS with more than 6 months of experience and trainees with less than 2 months of training. Contrary to expectations, no significant differences in MRSA prevalence were found.…”

The Emergency Medical Service Microbiome

“…(i) Study designs and methodologies. To date, approximately 25 published studies have investigated pathogen presence in the EMS sector from 1986 to 2016 within the United States (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), Australia (21), the United Kingdom (22), Germany (23)(24)(25), Denmark (26,27), South Korea (28,29), Saudi Arabia (30), and Thailand (31, 32) ( Fig. 1A).…”

“…1A). Of these studies, most have investigated pathogens within ground ambulances (6, 8-10, 14, 23-25, 29, 30, 32), although several studies examined air ambulances (7,21), EMS stations (17)(18)(19), EMS medical devices (12,28), uniforms (26), or EMS personnel (11,13,15,16,18,20) for pathogen colonization (Fig. 1B).…”