Participation of the Local Government Organization's Basic Emergency Medical Service Networks in the Development of the Emergency Care and Referral System, Lamphun Province

Abstract

The objectives of this participatory action research were to develop and examine the effectiveness of the development of the participatory emergency care and referral system of the basic emergency medical service networks under the local government organization, Lamphun Province. Participants were 56 primary medical practitioners and 204 emergency medical practitioners in basic medical practice centers. The research process consisted of three steps: 1) a study of the situation and obstacles; 2) development of the system for emergency care and referral; and 3) evaluation. The research tool was an emergency care and referral system developed through participation. The tools used for data collection were: 1) an interview questionnaire used in focus group discussions; 2) a questionnaire on the development of an emergency care and referral system model; and 3) a questionnaire on the participation of the medical service network. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. Qualitative data was examined through content analysis.

The results showed that the development model for the emergency care and referral system consisted of six categories: 1) operations in emergency situations; 2) operational safety 3) organizational management; 4) arranging treatment for injured patients; 5) information management; and 6) a human resource management system. The results of the development of a participatory emergency care and referral system were found to be at a very good level in terms of emergency medical technology (Mean = 4.87, S.D. = 0.32), community communication about emergency medical services (Mean = 4.67, S.D. = 0.36), and emergency medical knowledge training (Mean = 4.60, S.D. = 0.43). Hence, it should be encouraged for basic emergency medical service networks to participate in each phase so that they can learn about the situations that cause problems for these services, work together to address those conditions, and build the system. As a result, there is an emergency medical service that adheres to community norms and is of high quality.