Paramedic To Provider Consultation Challenges in the Emergency Department in Kazakhstan: An Online Survey

Abstract

Objective

Consultation is an important and necessary aspect of patient care in the emergency department. We prospectively examined difficulties during the consultation process between paramedics and providers in emergency departments in Kazakhstan.

Methods

The paramedics were interviewed using various platforms and face-to-face meetings. Questionnaires were administered to paramedics to gather feedback on the current consultation process. In our survey, 202 paramedics of ambulance from the cities of Semey, Pavlodar, and Ust-Kamenogorsk, located in the North and East of Kazakhstan took part.

Results

Serious barriers to effective consultation were identified during consultations with cardiologists, pediatricians, and traumatologists. Weekends, as well as nighttime, are associated with more consultation difficulties. The most common problems for paramedics are non-attendance of the consultant, refusal of hospitalization by the consultant, and referral to other specialists and departments. More than 40% of the respondents noted the desire to share responsibility for the patient with medical consultants, which indicates uncertainty in their own knowledge due to the limited work experience of the majority of respondents.

Conclusion

Barriers that arise during the consultation process of patients with emergency conditions can lead to unfavorable outcomes. Strategies to address these barriers are needed to improve the quality of patient care. This review aims to understand and evaluate the issues that arise during the consultation process.

Keywords:

• emergency department
• consultation
• paramedics
• prehospital medical care

Ethical Approval Details

The study has approval of the Local Ethics Commission of the Semey Medical University on March 16, 2022. All participants signed an informed consent form.

Disclosure

The authors report no competing interests for this work.

Additional information

Funding

The study is performed in the frame of the Project AP 14871609 “Optimizing the structure and improving the efficiency of the emergency medicine service in Kazakhstan by conducting training for people without medical education (medical technicians)”.