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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ning Jackie Zhang, MD, PhD, MPH¹, Laurie Romig, MD, FACEP², and Jeff Barnard, EMT-P, BHRM². (1) Department of Health Administration, University of Central Florida, 3280 Progress Drive, Orlando, FL 32826, 407-823-3344, nizhang@mail.ucf.edu, (2) Pinellas County EMS, 12490 Ulmerton Road, Largo, FL 33774

Objective: Pain is a symptom encountered by every emergency medical services (EMS) system. Little literature has been devoted to the topic; where available, it reflects a general lack of emphasis, education, and understanding. Some EMS systems have no pain management protocols; others adhere to standards that could be considered archaic. Where providers do perform pain management,,there are few evaluations of effectiveness. Additionally, little work has been done to assess the attitudes of prehospital providers about pain management. Many medical professional organizations have have advocated for improvements in pain management in all medical environments.. This study assesses the subjective attitudes of prehospital providers in a single EMS system prior to and following the introduction of advancements in their pain management protocol. Design: We prospectively studied the changes of EMS providers' attitudes towards pain management prior to and after the implementation of a new protocol in August 2004. The protocol introduced an additional analgesic and authorized analgesic administration to a prescribed level prior to a physician. The data come from surveys administered by the system Medical Director. Population: EMTs and paramedics with Pinellas County EMS were surveyed before and after the introduction of the new protocol and accompanying training. Findings: The new protocol and training were associated with significant EMS provider attitude changes. Both EMTs and paramedics felt that the protocol changes were effective, although the two groups had some differences in their perceptions. Understanding factors affecting EMS pain management effectiveness is an important step toward achieving good pain management outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

• Introduce a new pain management procotol in prehospital settings;
• Recognize the importance of the pain management in EMS systems;
• Evaluate the impacts of the new protocol and analyze the EMS providers' perceptions about it.

Keywords: EMS/Trauma, Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered