Earticle

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate recognition, attitudes, knowledge, education experience, and education demand regarding physical restraint among laypersons. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 105 randomly recruited laypersons in D city. Excluding 2 incomplete answers, 103 data were analyzed by frequency analysis, t-test, ANOVA, and chi-square test using SPSS 23.0. Results: Laypersons' recognition of physical restraints was rated at 3.37 out of 5 points, and showed a positive perspective. Knowledge on physical restraints was rated at 13.68 out of 18 points and was affected by age and education level (F = 2.845, p = .028)(F = 3.126, p = .029) A majority of the participants had no education on physical restraints. Nevertheless, participants showed intention to receive education in physical restraint to reach further understanding. Conclusion: Education on physical restraints is necessary for lay persons. However, there were education limits for people living in modern times. As an intervention addressing this problem, observing videos on the internet is recommended. Moreover, for advertising/educational purposes, accessing the internet and using smart-phone applications are suggested.

Purpose: To investigate the perception of paramedic students about core competence and methods of disaster response. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 210 paramedic students in Jeollado from March 2 to April 2, 2018. It comprised 57 questions on topics such as general characteristics (6), related experience (11), cognition of core competence (15), and knowledge of disaster response methods (25). Data were analyzed by means of a frequency analysis, a t-test, an ANOVA, and the Pearson's correlation coefficient using SPSS WIN 21.0. Results: The average score of the participants on disaster response core competence was 3.21. The statement "In case of a disaster, I know the duties of medical staff" scored the second highest, at 3.58, and "In the case of disaster, I can conduct the basic treatment" scored the highest ar 3.59. The average score for the disaster response methods was 3.31. Within the section, the statement "I know what I need to do in the case of burn patients" scored 3.59 and "I know what I need to do in the case of a cardiac arrest patient" scored the highest at 3.93. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop a training module considering the diverse types of disasters and a standardized education program for simulation similar to real-life situations.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a resilience measurement scale and verify its validity and reliability. Methods: This was a methodological study. The preliminary items of the scale were derived from literature reviews and in-depth interviews. The data were collected from October 30, 2017 to January 20, 2018, and paramedics working in hospitals or fire departments were selected using convenience sampling. A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 213 paramedics in Korea. Results: Through content validity, item analysis and exploratory factor analysis, a total of 6 factors and 26 items were extracted, and the total variance was 67.12%. Factor 1 was "self-efficacy" (11 items), factor 2 was "internal control" (5 items), factor 3 was "empowerment" (2 items), factor 4 was "interpersonal capability", (3 items), factor 5 was "social support" (2 items), and factor 6 was "adaptation and coping" (3 items). Conclusion: This is the first scale developed in Korea to measure the resilience of paramedics. In future, this scale of this study will contribute to developing a resilience improvement program based on understanding the resilience level of paramedics.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate experiences of violence with patients or family members by paramedics working at emergency rooms. Methods: A questionnaire was administered from June 1 to 31, 2017 to 225 paramedics working at 27 emergency medical centers. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS statistics ver 24.0 program. Results: Within the past year, 208(92.9%) of 224 participants experienced violence among whom 202(90.2%) experienced verbal abuse, 193(86.2%) experienced physical threat, 89(39.7%) experienced physical violence, and 52(23.2%) experienced sexual violence. The level of violence response depending on the overlapping experience of violence type showed significant difference from emotional response (p= .001), social response (p= .001), physical response (p= .004), and overall violence response (p= .001). Conclusion: In conclusion, paramedics are frequently exposed to violence in the emergency rooms, of which they mostly experience verbal abuse. In addition, because the reporting system in the event of violence and the coping process are not well-informed, paramedics are unable to sufficiently utilize the reporting system and programs established within the institution. Therefore, the support of the legal system is needed to create a safe working environment for the medical staff who work in the emergency medical centers.

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the factors influencing performance confidence by knowledge and experience of respiratory-assistant therapy in paramedic students. Methods: A descriptive survey study used a convenience sample comprising 387 students from September 15 to October 31, 2016. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. Results: Knowledge was statistically significant by college(3-year), acquired certification, and observation experience in respiratory-assistant therapy. Performance confidence was statistically significant by sex, academic grade(3.0≤), acquired certification, and observation and performance experience in respiratory-assistant therapy. There was a significant correlation between knowledge and acquired certification, clinical practice, and major satisfaction. There was a significant correlation between performance confidence and acquired certification, clinical practice, major satisfaction, and knowledge. Regression analysis revealed that performance confidence accounted for 22.9% of the variance by academic grade(3.0∼3.99), acquired certification, and major satisfaction. Conclusion: For paramedic students in clinical practice and in-school classes, it is important to improve performance confidence by combining training instruction with experience and education of respiratory-assistant therapy.

Purpose: To assess the satisfaction of continuing education and need assessment according to job characteristics in emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Methods: A self-reported questionnaire was completed by 222 EMTs from May 28 to July 6, 2018. It consisted of questions on the method and need of continuing education, and satisfaction regarding education time, assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics, a chi-square test, and ANOVA were used to analyze the data. Results: The responses to questions on the method of continuing education (ρ= .000), satisfaction of regarding the duration of continuing education (ρ= .029), method (ρ< .001), and topic (ρ= .000) varied according to the differences in job characteristics of EMTs. Assessment and management of patients with multiple trauma (4.17±.735) emerged as the most important while license examination protocol for EMTs (3.33±.968) was rated the least important among topics for continuing education. Separation of continuing education (ρ< .001), education method (ρ< .001), education topic (ρ< .001), and necessity of quality management of continuing education (ρ< .001) differed according to the job characteristics of EMTs. Conclusion: It is important to provide a suitable program catering to the diverse requirements of EMTs. The education programs must be tailored to the needs of level 1 and level 2 EMTs separately. To improve the quality of education, it is necessary to evaluate the continuing effects.

Purpose: The study aims to establish an effective training strategy and methods by comparing the effects of educational interest, satisfaction, and achievements of virtual reality and videos education before simulation training. Methods: The randomized control study was implemented on May 31, 2018, by randomly selecting 36 participants to compare educational virtual reality and videos. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS 20.0. Results: The participants were divided into an intervention group of 17(47.2%) and a control group of 19(52.8%). Regarding the levels of satisfaction, a significant difference (p= .010) was noted between the control (3.88 points) and the intervention groups (4.45 points). A significant difference (p= .001) was also noted between the intervention (80.3 points) and control (63.3 points) in terms of total simulation practical skills. Conclusion: Educational virtual reality can be an alternative training method to achieve the standard educational objectives by raising levels of educational interest and of achievement with practical skills.

Purpose: This study was performed to investigate the level of ethical values and its related factors among some paramedic students. Methods: The subjects of this study were 480 paramedic students from five universities located in G-metropolitan city and J province. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlations, and multiple regression analysis. Results: The mean scores of level of ethical values, academic self-efficacy and self-esteem were 3.70±0.45, 3.15±0.42 and 3.60±0.70, respectively. In the correlation analysis, ethical value level was significantly positively correlated with self-esteem (r=.195, p< .001) and academic self-efficacy (r=.156, p= .001), of domains in academic self-efficacy, self-regulation efficacy (r=.230, p< .001) and confidence (r=.105, p= .022). In multiple regression analysis, self-esteem (β=.163, p= .026), task ease preferences (β=-.350, p< .001) and confidence (β=.403, p< .001) were significantly related to ethical value levels. In addition, subjects willing to participate in the bioethics education showed higher relevance to ethical values than indifferent subjects (β=2.751, p= .003). Conclusion: Concrete and systematic education will be needed in order to foster the establishment of ethical values of the paramedic students. Additionally, to fulfill their roles and obligations as emergency medical technicians, in the field, various educational curricula based on simulated cases in the university should be introduced.