The Emergency Care Competence Needed for Police Patrol Officers According to the Experts : a National Swedish Delphi Study

Police patrol officers (PPOs) face different types of encounters with acutely ill and injured people as first responders. The study aim was to explore and describe the emergency care competence needed for Swedish PPOs. The study had an exploratory design, and the data was collected using the Delphi technique from 43 experts in Sweden: police program educators (n=10), police authority instructors (n=11), and PPOs (n= 22). The results generated an understanding of emergency care competence that is relevant for PPOs. Basic assessment and basic life support measures for traumatic injuries and cardiac arrest (e.g., airway management, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and hemorrhage control) received the highest levels of agreement among the experts, whereas more advanced assessments (taking care of people suffering from mental/medical illness or with drug/alcohol abuse) received lower levels of agreement. These results provide support for educators at the police programs and for the police authority in preparing PPOs to perform relevant out-of-hospital emergency care