A pilot study to evaluate the effectiveness of two different structured educational programs to increase Emergency Department staff knowledge of prehospital staff and capabilities

Objectives: Determine whether an educational intervention for Emergency Department (ED) physicians and nurses results in increase of knowledge and attitude regarding EMS provider's scope of practice. Methods. Three hospitals paired with an EMS agency in their hospital service area were randomized to no intervention, partial intervention and full intervention. Participants were masked to intervention group assignments. Pre and post test measured change in ED providers' knowledge and attitude. EMS Providers participated in a pre and post intervention focus groups. Pre intervention groups explored EMS providers' perceptions of their relationship with ED staff. The post-focus group assessed if there had been a change in relationship after the intervention. Results. Staff at all three hospitals reported an increase in knowledge post testing with the full intervention reporting the largest change at 17% (p =.0012). The partial intervention group reported the largest change (13%; p = .0522) while the full intervention group reported a 2% decrease (p= 0.5068) in attitude. The pre focus group participants expressed frustration with the ED staff in the areas of communication, knowledge, trust and respect. The EMS participants paired with the partial intervention hospital reported the largest perception of change in relationship with ED staff. Discussion. The categories found in the pre focus groups highlight barriers and challenges in the relationship between EMS providers and ED staff. Our intervention suggests that the use of a pre and post test can change knowledge and attitudes, but the addition of a training session is more effective.