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Aim: This study aims to identify the organizational climate and culture among nurses working in Immediate Life Support Ambulances (ILSA). Methods: A descriptive, quantitative, and cross-sectional study was conducted with 81 Portuguese nurses working in Immediate Life Support Ambulances at the National Medical Emergency Institute (INEM). The data was analyzed using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method, followed by a Varimax rotation, and the models were validated using the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. Findings: Factorial analysis yielded four factors, namely: Support (24.5%), Objectives (13.6%), Rules (9.7%), and Innovation (8.01%), associated with organizational climate and culture. Nurses with an undergraduate degree perceived significantly more support than those with higher qualifications. Support also varied according to relationship status, revealing that married nurses had a higher perception than those cohabiting. Conclusion: Organizational climate and culture unequivocally contribute to developing a healthy and safe work environment and are decisive for the quality of nursing care.

Resumen: Objetivo: Describir las características de los pacientes pediátricos con sospecha de intoxicación atendidos por unidades de soporte vital avanzado (SVA) y evaluar los indicadores de calidad (IC) para la atención urgente prehospitalaria de estos pacientes. Método: Estudio observacional de los pacientes menores de 18 años con exposición a tóxicos, que fueron atendidos por una unidad de SVA del Sistema de Emergencias Médicas en Cataluña, durante un año. Se definieron criterios de clínica grave. Se evaluaron 8 IC para la atención urgente prehospitalaria de los pacientes pediátricos intoxicados. Resultados: Se incluyó a 254 pacientes. La edad mediana fue de 14 años (p25-75 = 7-16), con exposición intencionada en el 50,8% de los casos. El tóxico más frecuentemente implicado fue el monóxido de carbono (CO) (33,8%). Presentó clínica de toxicidad el 48,8%, siendo grave en el 16,5%. La intencionalidad (OR 5,1; intervalo de confianza del 95%: 1,9-13,8) y el desconocimiento del tiempo transcurrido desde el contacto (OR 3,1; intervalo de confianza del 95%: 1,3-7,3) fueron factores de riesgo independientes asociados a clínica grave. Cinco IC no alcanzaron el estándar de calidad: disponibilidad de guías de actuación específicas, administración de carbón activado en pacientes seleccionados, aplicación de oxigenoterapia a la máxima concentración posible en intoxicación por CO, valoración electrocardiográfica en pacientes expuestos a sustancias cardiotóxicas y registro del conjunto mínimo de datos. Conclusiones: Los pacientes pediátricos expuestos a tóxicos y atendidos por unidades SVA presentan características propias. Destacan la implicación del CO y de los adolescentes con intoxicaciones voluntarias. La evaluación de los IC ha sido útil para detectar puntos débiles en la calidad asistencial de estos pacientes y desarrollar estrategias de mejora. Abstract: Objective: To describe the characteristics of paediatric patients with suspected poisoning treated by advanced life support (ALS) units, and to evaluate quality indicators (QI) for the prehospital emergency care of these patients. Method: A one-year observational study of patients under 18 years of age exposed to poisoning and treated by an ALS unit of the Medical Emergency System in Catalonia. Severe clinical criteria were defined, with 8 QI being evaluated for prehospital emergency care of poisoned paediatric patients. Results: The study included a total of 254 patients, with a median age of 14 years-old (p25-75 = 7-16), with intentional poisoning in 50.8% of cases. The most frequently involved toxic agent was carbon monoxide (CO) (33.8%). Poisoning was found in 48.8% of those patients, being serious in 16.5%. Intentionally (OR 5.1; 95% CI: 1.9-13.8) and knowledge of the time of exposure (OD 3.1; 95% CI: 1.3-7.3) were independent risk factors associated with the appearance of severe clinical symptoms. Five QI did not reach the quality standard and included, availability of specific clinical guidelines, activated charcoal administration in selected patients, oxygen therapy administration at maximum possible concentration in carbon monoxide poisoning, electrocardiographic assessment in patients exposed to cardiotoxic substances, and recording of the minimum data set. Conclusions: Paediatric patients attended by ALS units showed specific characteristics, highlighting the involvement of CO and adolescents with voluntary poisoning. The QI assessment was useful to detect weak points in the quality of care of these patients and to develop strategies for improvement.

Introduction: Traffic accidents (AT) are the first priority in health research in Peru, According to the World Health Organization (WHO) it is estimated that the economic costs of vehicle impact and injuries due to AT are 1 % and 1.5% of the Gross National Product (GNP) in low and middle income countries; In Peru it is approximately 1.5 - 2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Objective: To determine if there is an association between the time of prehospital care and hospital mortality in victims of traffic accidents. Methods: A systematic review was carried out through the literature search of related articles in indexing sources such as PubMed and BIREME. Results: Delays in the transfer of patients to the hospital and the lack of pre-hospital Emergency Medical System (SME) were significantly associated with an increase in mortality (P: 0.000) and the need for an SME as a prehospital care provider was significant predictor of emergency mortality with an adjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.19; 95% CI [1.88–2.55], and in the first 24 hours of admission with an adjusted OR 2.31; 95% CI [1.95–2.73]. Conclusion: The time of pre-hospital care in traffic accidents is significantly associated with hospital mortality, therefore, it is proposed to study factors associated with the longtime of pre-hospital care.

Introduction: Workplace violence is becoming increasingly frequent in the health sector. Therefore, valid and reliable instruments are required to measure this phenomenon. Objective: To validate the factor structure of the Spanish version of the “Workplace Violence in the Health Sector” questionnaire in Chilean prehospital care workers. Material and methods: Quantitative, multivariate study in which the main components of the Spanish version of the questionnaire were analyzed. After being reviewed by experts and conducting a pilot test, 6 questions were eliminated. The adapted version was administered to 74 health professionals (nurses-kinesiologists) and 148 paramedics working in prehospital care. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (chi-square test). The SPSS v15 software was used to perform data analysis and the principal component analysis (PCA). Results: The questionnaire had a high overall reliability (α=0.912). According to the PCA, three factors were identified, namely, physical violence (eigenvalue: 8.3), verbal abuse (eigenvalue: 3.7) and mobbing or workplace harassment (eigenvalue: 3.6), which explain 86% of the variance. Conclusions: The proposed instrument is valid for measuring workplace violence among health professionals working in prehospital care. Having a validated tool to quantify this phenomenon in the country is a significant contribution since it allows carrying out similar studies in other health areas and, based on the results, work on its prevention and the promotion of healthier work environments.

ABSTRACT Objectives: to identify the clinical and obstetric situation of pregnant women who required emergency care, considering the adequacy of their requirement. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study, developed in the headquarters of the Mobile Emergency Care Services from a state in the Brazilian Northeast, through the analysis of 558 reports of obstetric patients attended in 2016. The magnitude of the associations was expressed by odds ratio and confidence intervals, considering a 5% significance level. Results: more than half (50.9%) requirements for emergency care were from women who went into labor (non-expulsive), especially among third trimester pregnant women (p < 0.000). Most clinical and obstetric parameters were normal. Conclusions: the inadequate demands for emergency care services reflect the excessive medicalization of the gestational process and shows how important it is to discuss the physiological symptoms that involve pregnancy, so that a more egalitarian and efficient urgency service can be offered.

Introduction: Civilisation development and huge technological progress influence the life and functioning of every human being. They facilitate functioning in the modern world but are also associated with increased incidence of trauma and morbidity, which are a challenge for modern health care systems. One of the main elements of health care is Emergency Medical Services System, whose aim is to save people who are in the state of sudden health hazard. Aim: The aim of this paper was to analyse the reasons for medical rescue team interventions in the northwest part of Masovian voivodeship within the period of four years (2013-2016). Materials and method: The analysis showed that the most common reason for medical rescue team intervention in the studied region and time period was cardiovascular diseases. Results: Men and people aged 75-89 were the main beneficiaries of medical services provided by medical rescue teams. Cardiovascular diseases were more often diagnosed in women and people aged 75-89, while injuries were mainly diagnosed in men and people aged 45-59. Conclusion: The gender and age of the patient, year, day of the week, the place of the call, team type and the urgency code of the call were important factors influencing the reasons for the intervention of MRTs in the analysed region and period.

Em um estudo de corte transversal foram avaliadas as características das vítimas de acidentes de trânsito ocorridos em Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, com o objetivo de conhecer as características dos acidentes e das vítimas que usaram o serviço de atendimento pré-hospitalar, e investigar se o uso deste serviço está associado a um menor tempo até o atendimento hospitalar. Participaram do estudo todas as 1.564 vítimas de acidente de trânsito atendidas nos três maiores hospitais públicos de referência para emergência na cidade entre 10 de novembro e 14 de dezembro de 2003. As associações foram investigadas utilizando-se razões de prevalência obtidas por regressão de Poisson. Os resultados mostraram que 49,7% das vítimas usaram o serviço de atendimento pré-hospitalar, sendo a utilização menor entre ocupantes de bicicleta e pedestres. A gravidade (AIS = 2 e AIS ³ 3), idade (30-39 anos, 40-49, ³ 50 anos), relato de uso de álcool e tempo de admissão hospitalar < 60 minutos estiveram associados ao transporte pelo serviço de atendimento pré-hospitalar. O uso do serviço de atendimento pré-hospitalar foi maior entre vítimas mais graves e esteve associado a um tempo menor de chegada até o hospital, características consideradas essenciais para um serviço de atenção pré-hospitalar.This was a cross-sectional study of all victims of traffic accidents in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, admitted to the three largest public hospitals in the city from November 10 to December 14, 2003, to identify characteristics associated with the use of pre-hospital emergency treatment and investigate whether the time between the accident and hospital admission was shorter among these victims. The association between pre-hospital treatment and target variables was assessed by prevalence ratios obtained from Poisson regression. Among 1,564 victims, 778 (49.7%) were transported in vehicles with pre-hospital treatment. Pre-hospital treatment was less common for bicyclists and pedestrians. The prevalence ratio was higher among victims with more severe injuries (AIS = 2 and AIS ³ 3), older victims (30-39 years, 40-49 years, ³ 50 years), those who reported alcohol use, and when the time between accident and hospital admission was less than 60 minutes. According to the results, pre-hospital treatment is more frequent among severely injured victims and helps reduce the time between the accident and hospital admission.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of paediatric patients with suspected poisoning treated by advanced life support (ALS) units, and to evaluate quality indicators (QI) for the prehospital emergency care of these patients., Method: A one-year observational study of patients under 18 years of age exposed to poisoning and treated by an ALS unit of the Medical Emergency System in Catalonia. Severe clinical criteria were defined, with 8 QI being evaluated for prehospital emergency care of poisoned paediatric patients., Results: The study included a total of 254 patients, with a median age of 14 years-old (p25-75 = 7-16), with intentional poisoning in 50.8% of cases. The most frequently involved toxic agent was carbon monoxide (CO) (33.8%). Poisoning was found in 48.8% of those patients, being serious in 16.5%. Intentionally (OR 5.1; 95% CI: 1.9-13.8) and knowledge of the time of exposure (OD 3.1; 95% CI: 1.3-7.3) were independent risk factors associated with the appearance of severe clinical symptoms. Five QI did not reach the quality standard and included, availability of specific clinical guidelines, activated charcoal administration in selected patients, oxygen therapy administration at maximum possible concentration in carbon monoxide poisoning, electrocardiographic assessment in patients exposed to cardiotoxic substances, and recording of the minimum data set., Conclusions: Paediatric patients attended by ALS units showed specific characteristics, highlighting the involvement of CO and adolescents with voluntary poisoning. The QI assessment was useful to detect weak points in the quality of care of these patients and to develop strategies for improvement., (Copyright © 2019 Asociación Española de Pediatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To evaluate the ability of the prehospital National Early Warning Score 2 Lactate (preNEWS2-L) to predict early mortality, defined as death within 48 hours of the index event. We also explored the predictive capacity of the score for 7- and 30-day all-cause mortality., Material and Methods: Prospective, observational longitudinal study in patients attended by ambulance responders and transferred to the emergency departments of reference hospitals. We collected demographic, physiologic, clinical, and analytical data and the main diagnosis. The main outcome measure was all-cause mortality., Results: s. A total of 707 patients were included. Thirty-seven patients (5.2%) died within 48 hours of the index event. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for the preNEWS2-L score's prediction of early death was 0.91 (95% CI, 0.83-0.96). The AUCs for death within 7 and 30 days were 0.86 (95% CI, 0.79-0.92) and 0.82 (95% CI, 0.76-0.87), respectively, showing that the score's ability to predict death decreases by almost 10% between 48 hours and 30 days., Conclusion: The preNEWS2-L is a useful prognostic tool that can be assessed quickly and easily in prehospital settings.

Objectives: To describe the reported incidents and adverse events in the emergency medical services of Asturias, Spain, and assess their consequences, delays caused, and preventability., Material and Methods: Prospective, observational study of incidents reported by the staff of the emergency medical services of Asturias after implementation of a system devised by the researchers., Results: Incident reports were received for 0.48% (95% CI, 0.41%-0.54%) of the emergencies attended. Patient safety was compromised in 74.7% of the reported incidents. Problems arising in the emergency response coordination center (ERCC) accounted for 37.6% of the incidents, transport problems for 13.4%, vehicular problems for 10.8%, and communication problems for 8.8%. Seventy percent of the reported incidents caused delays in care; 55% of the reported incidents that put patients at risk (according to severity assessment code ratings) corresponded to problems related to human or material resources. A total of 88.1% of the incidents reported were considered avoidable. Some type of intervention was required to attenuate the effects of 46.2% of the adverse events reported. The measures that staff members most often proposed to prevent adverse events were to increase human and material resources (28.3%), establish protocols (14.5%), and comply with quality of care recommendations (9.7%)., Conclusion: It is important to promote a culture of safety and incident reporting among health care staff in Asturias given the number of serious adverse events. Reporting is necessary for understanding the errors made and taking steps to prevent them. The ERCC is the point in the system where incidents are particularly likely to appear and be noticed and reported.

Objectives: To analyze the influence of drones equipped with thermal cameras for finding victims and aiding triage during disasters., Material and Methods: We carried out a prospective, cross-sectional analysis and 6 experimental simulations, each with 25 victims to locate and triage. Nurses were randomized to a control group or a drone group. Drone-group nurses were given access to images from the thermal cameras 10 minutes before the exercise started., Results: The mean (SD) distance the nurses searched in the control group (1091.11 [146.41] m) was significantly greater than the distance searched by nurses in the drone group (920 [ 71.93] m (P = .0031). The control group found a mean of 66.7% of the victims, a significantly smaller percentage than the drone group's mean of 92% (P = .0001). Triage quality (undertriage and overtriage) was similar in the 2 groups as shown by maneuvers undertaken to open airways and control bleeding., Conclusion: Drones with thermal cameras were useful in searching for victims of simulated disasters in this study, although they had no impact on the quality of the nurses' triage.

Objectives: To determine the ability of the modified (Spanish) version of the Simplified Motor Score (mSMS) to predict adverse events during hospitalization and to compare its predictive ability to that of the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in adults with head injuries treated outside the hospital., Material and Methods: Observational study of retrospective cohorts including all patients over the age of 14 years attended for head injuries occurring within 24 hours of treatment by an advanced life-support unit staffed by nurses between May 1, 2013, and May 1, 2014. The mSMS was a translation of the English original, created through a process of discussions of direct and back translations to arrive at consensus. Out-of-hospital patient records were searched to find GCS and mSMS scores. To predict the ability of each scale to predict brain injuries, neurosurgery, intubation, and/or inhospital death, we calculated the area under the receiving operator characteristic curves (AUCs)., Results: Of the total of 115 head-injury patients attended, 64 met the inclusion criteria. The mean (SD) age was 47 (24) years. Twelve (18.8%) patients developed some form of adverse event during hospitalization; 91.6% had brain damage, 58.3% required intubation, 8.3% required surgery, and 41.6% died. The AUC for the GCS was 0.907 (95% CI, 0.81-1.00; P<.001); the AUC for the mSMS was 0.796 (95% CI, 0.64-0.95; P=.001)., Conclusion: Although the ability of the mSMS to predict in-hospital adverse outcomes is good, it is inferior to the GCS in adults with head injuries attended outside the hospital.