Determining the need for teaching on pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies in the emergency medical care curriculum in South Africa

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Date
2020-03
Authors
Mothibi, Jani Daniel
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Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
In this research project, an in-depth study was conducted by the researcher to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of pre-hospital emergency care providers (i.e. Advance life support, Intermediate life support and Basic life support providers), regarding pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies. This was done with a view to reveal any possible gaps in knowledge in the pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies by these pre-hospital emergency care providers, and to provide evidence for making informed recommendations for the need to strengthen the education and training of prehospital emergency care providers on pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies. In this research project, the researcher utilised a quantitative, non-experimental design. A literature review on the principles and practice of managing psychiatric emergencies in the pre-hospital environment was conducted. A questionnaire survey was used to explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the pre-hospital emergency care providers on the management of psychiatric emergencies. The questionnaire included a mixture of closedended and open-ended questions. However, closed-ended questions made up the bulk of the questionnaire. Hard copies of the questionnaires were circulated to the participants, and information collected was analysed by the statistician and the researcher and interpreted to reveal meaningful data. This study found that some pre-hospital emergency care providers are not knowledgeable about the principles and practice of pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies and are not conversant with the provisions of the Mental Health Care Act 2002 (Act no. 17 of 2002) of SA. In conclusion, the problem that was addressed by this study is the probable inadequate knowledge of some certain cadres of emergency care providers regarding pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies that result from the gap in EMC education and training. Based on the findings by this study, the researcher therefore made recommendations and motivations for the expansion of the teaching on the principles and practice of pre-hospital management of psychiatric emergencies in the current EMC higher certificate, diploma and degree curricula.
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Keywords
Emergency medical services - South Africa, Psychiatric emergencies - South Africa, Emergency medical care - South Africa, Pre-hospital emergency care providers, Dissertation (M.HPE. (Health Professions Education))--University of the Free State, 2020
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