Establishing Consensus-based Objectives for the Creation of an Opioid Overdose Curriculum for Emergency Medical Services Clinicians.
Publication/Presentation Date
4-1-2021
Abstract
Objectives: Emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians are on the front lines of the opioid epidemic and are often the first health care personnel system to contact patients experiencing opioid toxicity. Although national educational guidelines include opioid toxicity, no specific standardized prehospital educational objectives or competencies exist. The goal of this project was to identify objectives for an EMS opioid toxicity curriculum that could be used for EMS training.
Methods: A list of preliminary educational objectives from U.S. EMS training programs was compiled and reviewed by a group of experts. The Delphi method was used to attain consensus on a final list of objectives for an EMS opioid curriculum.
Results: A total of 107 opioid-related preliminary objectives were identified and then narrowed down to 81 preliminary objectives after accounting for redundancy. After four successive rounds of evaluating/accepting/rejecting objectives, 18 final objectives were identified and unanimously approved by the expert panel.
Conclusion: We identified 18 objectives to serve as a framework for an opioid toxicity curriculum for EMS clinicians. These objectives can serve as a basis for creating a standardized didactic training program for EMS training programs nationwide. Further evaluation will be needed to explore the best means for educational program delivery.
Volume
5
Issue
2
First Page
10499
Last Page
10499
ISSN
2472-5390
Published In/Presented At
Trebach, J. D., Levy, M., Ali, F., Beauchamp, G., Biary, R., Everett, C., Margolis, A., Nawrocki, P. S., Wendell, J. C., Zour, J., & Stolbach, A. (2020). Establishing Consensus-based Objectives for the Creation of an Opioid Overdose Curriculum for Emergency Medical Services Clinicians. AEM education and training, 5(2), e10499. https://doi.org/10.1002/aet2.10499
Disciplines
Emergency Medicine | Medicine and Health Sciences
PubMedID
33842812
Department(s)
Department of Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty
Document Type
Article