Exertional Heat Stroke Knowledge and Management among Emergency Medical Service Providers

Rebecca Hirschhorn, Oluwagbemiga DadeMatthews and JoEllen Sefton
Additional contact information
Rebecca Hirschhorn: Warrior Research Center, School of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Oluwagbemiga DadeMatthews: Warrior Research Center, School of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
JoEllen Sefton: Warrior Research Center, School of Kinesiology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: This study evaluated emergency medical services (EMS) providers’ knowledge of exertional heat stroke (EHS) and assessed current EMS capabilities for recognizing and managing EHS. EMS providers currently practicing in the United States were recruited to complete a 25-item questionnaire. There were 216 questionnaire responses (183 complete) representing 28 states. On average, respondents were 42.0 ± 13.0 years old, male ( n = 163, 75.5%), and white ( n = 176, 81.5%). Most respondents were Paramedics ( n = 110, 50.9%) and had ?16 years of experience ( n = 109/214, 50.9%) working in EMS. Fifty-five percent ( n = 99/180) of respondents had previously treated a patient with EHS. The average number of correct answers on the knowledge assessment was 2.6 ± 1.2 out of 7 (~37% correct). Temporal ( n = 79), tympanic ( n = 76), and oral ( n = 68) thermometers were the most prevalent methods of temperature assessment available. Chemical cold packs ( n = 164) and air conditioning ( n = 134) were the most prevalent cooling methods available. Respondents demonstrated poor knowledge regarding EHS despite years of experience, and over half stating they had previously treated EHS in the field. Few EMS providers reported having access to an appropriate method of assessing or cooling a patient with EHS. Updated, evidence-based training needs to be provided and stakeholders should ensure their EMS providers have access to appropriate equipment.

Keywords: heat-related illness; prehospital; ambulance; paramedic; emergency medical technician (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/5016/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/5016/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:5016-:d:551153

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().