The possibility of pain management in prehospital emergency care

I chose the topic Possibilities of pain management in pre-hospital emergency care for my bachelor thesis as pain belongs to the most frequent symptoms of patients in the care of the Emergency Medical Service. The goal was to map the possibilities of pain management in pre-hospital emergency care in South Bohemian Region. The second goal was to map the awareness of pain management in pre-hospital emergency care among South Bohemian medical rescuers. The theoretical part deals with the present situation of the Emergency Medical Service, education and competences of rescuers. In the next part I focused on various types of pain, assessment and subsequent treatment of pain. The last, theoretical part describes the caring process in pre-hospital emergency care for a patient in pain. The research was performed by means of quantitative method in the form of a questionnaire with semi open and closed questions. The questionnaires were distributed at Emergency Medical Service regional centres of South Bohemia. The results show that pain is sufficiently managed in pre-hospital care. Another fact was confirmed, that rescuers are familiar with the pain management possibilities and prefer pharmacological methods of pain management. We also found out that non pharmacological interventions were used less frequently than they could be. One of the hypotheses was refuted, two were confirmed. The quantitative research results show that there is still a relatively large reserve in using non pharmacological methods. Rescuers might use them more, particularly the quick emergency crews, or they might be applied in situations not requiring immediate pharmacological treatment. Educational seminars at the individual workplaces might improve the awareness of non pharmacological intervention techniques. A patient in pre hospital emergency care suffering from pain of various intensity should be given primary professional care from qualified rescuers