The infection prevention and control practices of the ambulance service
Keywords:
Emergency medical service, ambulance, ambulance vehicle, infection prevention and control practices, decontaminationAbstract
Objective: The aim of this research was to comprehensively evaluate the infection prevention and control practices of the ambulance service. Methods: This cross section survey was carried out in Izmir between June and September 2010. The study sample consisted of 213 ambulance service workers and all the emergency and rescue station buildings and ambulances. A questionnaire and two check-list forms were used as a means of data collection. Results: According to the employees’ responses, an average of 25 (24.86±4.09) of 40 items of infection prevention and control criteria that are required to be met for the ambulance service were met, while 15 were not. In the observations, it was found that the infection prevention and control criteria for ambulances were met at an average of 32.96±5.22 out of 40. It was found that 33 out of 50 items of the criteria for infection prevention and control in ambulances were met while 17 were not. According to observations, an average of 6 (5.88±1.52) of 17 items of infection prevention and control criteria for emergency and rescue station buildings, were met while 11 were not. Conclusion: The questionnaire responses given by the ambulance personnel and observations made by the researchers in the ambulances and emergency and rescue station buildings suggest that the criteria set for infection prevention and control practices were not met at a satisfactory level, which meant the infection prevention and control practices were not sufficient. It is advised that an IPC guideline should be prepared to include standards and procedures to be followed by ambulance service personnel.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Alves, DW. and Bissell, RA. 2008. Bacterial pathogens in ambulances: Results of unannounced sample collection. Prehosp Emerg Care 12(2):218–24.
Andersen, BM., Rasch, M., Hochlin, K., Jensen, FH., Wismar, P. and Fredriksen, JE. 2006. Decontamination of rooms, medical equipment and ambulances using an aerosol of hydrogen peroxide disinfectant. Journal of Hospital Infection 62(2):149–55.
Becker, LR., Zaloshnja, E., Levick, N., Li, G. and Miller, TR. 2003. Relative risk of injury and death in ambulances and other emergency vehicles. Accid Anal Prev 35(6): 941–48.
Boal, WL., Hales, T. and Ross, CS. 2005. Blood-borne pathogens among firefighters and emergency medical technicians. Prehosp Emerg Care 9(2): 236–47.
Brown, R., Minnon, J., Schneider, S. and Vaughn, J. 2010. Prevalence of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus in ambulances in southern maine. Prehosp Emerg Care 14(2): 176–81.
Fischer, D., Veldman, A. and Schäfer, V. 2004. Bacterial colonization of patients undergoing international air transport: a prospective epidemiologic study. J Travel Med 11(1): 44–48.
Galtelli, M., Deschamp, C. and Rogers, J. 2006. An assesment of the prevalence of pathogenic microorganisms in the rotor wing ambulance: One program ’s findings. Air Med J 25(2): 81–84.
Gershon, RR., Vlahov, D., Kelen, G., Conrad, B. and Murphy, L. Review of accidents/injuries among emergency medical services workers in Baltimore, Maryland. Prehosp Disaster Med 10(1): 14–18.
Hochreiter, MC. and Barton, LL.1988. Epidemiology of needlestick injury in emergency medical service personnel. J Emerg Med 6(1): 9–12.
Kanz, E. 1981. [Problems of hygiene with life-saving equipment (Author’s Transl)]. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg B 172(6): 454–68.
Merchant, RC., Nettleton, JE., Mayer, KH. and Becker, BM. 2009. Blood or body fluid exposures and HIV postexposure prophylaxis utilization among first responders. Prehosp Emerg Care 13(1): 6–13.
Nigam, Y. and Cutter, J. 2003a. A Preliminary investigation into bacterial contamination of welsh emergency ambulances. Emerg Med J 20(5): 479–82.
Noh, H., Shin, SD., Kim, NJ., Ro, YS., Oh, HS., Joo, SI., Kim, JI. and Ong, ME. 2011. Risk Stratification-Based Surveillance of Bacterial Contamination in Metropolitan ambulances. J Korean Med Sci 26(1): 124–30.
Pepe, PE., Hollinger, FB., Troisi, CL. and Heiberg, D. 1986. Viral hepatitis risk in urban emergency medical services personnel. Ann Emerg Med 15(4): 454–57.
Reed, E., Daya, MR., Jui, J., Grellman, K., Gerber, L. and Loveless, MO. 1993. Occupational infectious disease exposures in ems personnel. J Emerg Med 11(1): 9–16.
Ro, YS., Shin, SD., Noh, H. and Cho, SI. 2012. Prevalence of positive carriage of tuberculosis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci in patients transported by ambulance: A single center observational study. J Prev Med Public Health 45(3): 174–80.
Roline, CE., Crumpecker, C. and Dunn, TM. 2006. Can methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus be found in an ambulance fleet? Prehosp Emerg Care 11: 241–44.
Valenzuela, TD., Hook, EW. 3rd., Copass, MK. and Corey L. 1985. Occupational exposure to hepatitis b in paramedics. Arch Intern Med 145(11): 1976–77.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors can retain copyright, while granting the journal right of first publication. Alternatively, authors can transfer copyright to the journal, which then permits authors non-commercial use of the work, including the right to place it in an open access archive. In addition, Creative Commons can be consulted for flexible copyright licenses.
©1999 Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
