Evaluation of the Knowledge of Prehospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Personnel in the Diagnosis of Stroke Patients

Some mortality due to stroke occur outside the hospital. Therefore, the pre-hospital emergency medical services (EMS) plays an important and vital role in the management of stroke patients. The present study evaluated the knowledge of prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in the diagnosis of stroke patients.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in hospitals and pre-hospital EMS affiliated to Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran in 2022. In order to measure the knowledge and awareness of pre-hospital EMS personnel regarding stroke, a researcher-made questionnaire containing 20 questions, as well as demographic data such as age, gender, field of study was collected.

The mean age of 109 pre-hospital EMS personnel was 32.4±6.6 years old. Most of them were graduates of associate degree in emergency medicine. The mean score of knowledge obtained by the pre-hospital EMS personnel was 16.9±3.5 out of 20, which according to the grading, the knowledge level was estimated to be very good. Of course, very weak and weak level of awareness was recorded in 0.9% (n=1) and 1.8% (n=2) of pre-hospital EMS personnel, respectively. No significant relationship was recorded between the mean level of knowledge and field of study.

The findings of the present study showed that the level of knowledge of Ilam pre-hospital EMS personnel in the field of stroke is favorable, however, the knowledge of a very small percentage of them was at a weak or very weak level. It is recommended conducting more studies in this field.