Assessment Of Ambulance Utilization And Barriers Among Trauma Patients In Jimma University Medical Center Emergency Department

Abstract

Background: The care given in the community until the patient gets to a formal medical facility that can offer conclusive care is known as pre-hospital care (PHC). Therefore, prehospital emergency services can play a crucial role in enhancing emergency care systems and reducing morbidity and mortality if provided in a well-organized and effectively. Ambulances and paramedics personel in much of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are solely utilized for patient transfers between medical facilities. Early and late morbidity and mortality among trauma victims decreased when prehospital care was used promptly. Primary Goals of this study is To Assess prehospital ambulances use and barriers among trauma patients at the JUMC ED Method: An institutional based cross sectional study was conducted on all trauma patients visiting Jimma University Medical Center from October 1 to 30, 2023. Data were collected using a pretested self-administered structured questionnaire and entered, cleaned using epi data v.4.6 and exported to SPSS v.25 software for analysis. Logistic regression was used to check for association between variables and to adjust potential confounding factors. Results were presented using texts, tables and graph. A p-value <0.05 will be considered significant. Tables and figures will be used to describe the results. Result: The mean age of the study participant was 29.55+13.842years.) Of the total 237 patients,58.23%(138patient) uses ambulance for means of transportation,majority(38% from 138pateints)patients uses interfacility ambulance use(secondary transport and 20%use as primary transport. Variables such as Previous experience of EMS, (AOR. = 7.437; CI: 2.904-19.050; P= 0 .001), Source of referral (AOR. = 1.205; CI: 1.108-3.357; P= 0 .000), Type of trauma (AOR. =1.205; CI: 0.990 -1.457; P= 0 .043), activity during trauma (AOR. = 1.510; CI: 1.043 -2.185; P= 0 .029), Know ambulance toll free call number (AOR. = 3.264; CI: 0.893 -11.934; P= 0 .039) and Perception of EMS is necessary for life saving (AOR. = 9.511; CI: 3.160 -28.629; P= 0 .000) all have positively and statistically significant associations with ambulance utilization. Conclusion: the study revealed that 58.23% of the participants utilized ambulance service among which 38% secondary(interfacility and 20% uses as primary means of transport. Interestingly, several variables, including previous experience of EMS, source of referral,activity during trauma, knowledge of ambulance toll-free call number, and perception of EMS as necessary for life-saving, displayed statistically significant positive associations with ambulance utilization.These factors were found to have a noticeable impact on the likelihood of individuals using ambulance services