When the people who specialize in saving lives put themselves at risk, the health care system has a problem.
That鈥檚 a concern for Angelica Rios, an MPH graduate student with a concentration in at the 深夜看片 (COPH). She recently presented research at the Florida Professionals in Infection Control (FPIC) conference in Tampa.
Rios鈥 research focuses on how to keep first responders such as ambulance teams and firefighters free of pathogens that could make them sick during their daily routines. Her poster presentation, 鈥淎n Assessment of First Response Personnel Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Training Needs,鈥 addressed the gaps in pre-hospital emergency response settings.
鈥淏ecause emergency responders serve as a bridge between patients and hospitals, they鈥檙e exposed to germs and disease during transportation services,鈥欌 Rios said. 鈥淪ince they鈥檙e in ambulances, it鈥檚 easy for disease to spread.鈥欌
Professionals in this arm of public health take training via a free series called (ICER), intended to fill any gaps that could pose health issues. Rios was involved in a national study to identify those lapses in the actual training material.
The student concluded that 鈥渟ignificant鈥欌 gaps exist in decontamination, personal protection clothing and communicable disease protocols.
鈥淔irst responders are often the first people we rely on in an emergency and if they don鈥檛 have the right infection prevention training, they can be at greater risk of getting sick or spreading germs while helping others,鈥欌 said , associate professor, faculty lead for COPH infection control programs and former first responder.
The 12-month research project, which involved 466 responses in all 50 states, was conducted in six categories:
- Diarrhea dilemma
- Blood exposure
- Respiratory viruses
- Germs on devices
- Emergency rooms
- Germ habitats
The respondents included 46% paramedics, 33% emergency medical technicians, 8% advanced emergency medical technicians and 6% paramedics, with 7% classified as "other."
The study concluded that 鈥渟ignificant鈥欌 gaps exist in equipment decontamination, the use of personal protection clothing and communicable disease protocols. 鈥淭ailored, web-based, scenario-driven training specific to pre-hospital care is needed to improve responder safety and effectiveness,鈥欌 the report stated.
It also found that not all health care professionals know the extent of germs in emergency vehicles and other settings. Current training is incomplete in how it shares protocols with employees in an engaging way, Rios said.
鈥淭hroughout this project we found that some emergency personnel didn鈥檛 take infection control protocols seriously or just found them boring,鈥欌 she said, adding that language barriers often impeded training programs.
Rios said emergency workers have a duty to stay safe by knowing that disease exposure exists and to prevent its spread. The COVID-19 pandemic proved how infection control measures are essential to both emergency personnel and their communities.
鈥淚 hope that this research leads to filling in the gaps and provides responders with more knowledge on why it鈥檚 important to keep themselves safe within the field,鈥欌 Rios said.
Her study complements another COPH project on containing the spread of pathogens among responders: USF team promotes effective method for disinfecting emergency vehicles from airborne pathogens.
FPIC is recognized as the leading professional organization of infection control and epidemiologic expertise throughout the state. It promotes scientifically based infection control and epidemiological principles and practices through public policy advocacy and professional development.