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. 2020 Sep;10(3):107-110.
doi: 10.1016/j.afjem.2020.01.009. Epub 2020 Mar 7.

The state of emergency medical technician education in Ghana

Katelyn E Flaherty  1 , Ahmed N Zakariah  2 , Vicki A Vescio  3 , Maxwell Osei-Ampofo  4 , Mohammed-Najeeb Mahama  2 , Vitus Agongo  2 , Torben K Becker  5
Affiliations

The state of emergency medical technician education in Ghana

Katelyn E Flaherty et al. Afr J Emerg Med. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Objective: The National Ambulance Service (NAS) provides emergency medical services throughout Ghana and trains emergency medical technicians (EMTs) at the NAS Prehospital Emergency Care Training School (PECTS). Currently the majority of EMT training occurs primarily in a traditional didactic format. Students and faculty were interviewed to better understand their views of the current curriculum. Additionally, any barriers to integration of simulation-based learning were assessed. Following the interviews, the faculty was trained to conduct obstetric and neonatal simulations. The faculty was then observed introducing the simulations to the EMT students.

Methods: A standardized list of questions developed in consultation with an education expert was used to elicit student and faculty expression of opinion. Interviews were conducted in-person in small group settings. Training sessions were conducted in-person in large group settings.

Results: Students and faculty alike expressed pride in their work and 14/25 groups felt that teaching efforts were high. However, students verbalized concern involving their lack of rest (12/18) and the high volume of lectures per day (11/18). Both students and faculty felt limited by the lack of simulation tools (17/25), library resources (14/25), internet access (17/25), and infrastructure (20/25). All groups felt favorably towards the integration of simulation-based learning (25/25).

Conclusion: The faculty and students of PECTS support the transition from a curriculum based on traditional didactic learning to one based on simulation learning.

Keywords: Education; Emergency medical technician; Experiential learning; Prehospital care; Simulation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr Maxwell Osei-Ampofo is an editor of the African Journal of Emergency Medicine. Dr Osei-Ampofo was not involved in the editorial workflow for this manuscript. The African Journal of Emergency Medicine applies a double blinded process for all manuscript peer reviews. The authors declared no further conflicts of interest.

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