An Evaluation of the Emergency Medical Services System Involving Road Traffic of Nakhonphanom Hospital, Nakhon Phanom Province, Northeastern Thailand

ABSTRACT

Road traffic accidents are important problems impacting economic, social, and public health conditions of the country. The quality emergency medical service system can decrease rates of injuries, deaths and conditions of the disabled from illnesses of emergent accidents. This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the emergency medical service system involving road traffic of Nakhonphanom Hospital, Nakhon Phanom Province using the CIPP Model by studying from 100 administrators, practitioners, and service users according to the emergency medical service system. The sample was obtained using the accidental random sampling technique from service users. The instrument were a questionnaire and an interview form. Data were collected from November 2006 to 31 March 2007. The statistical values were percentage, mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The study results are as following The work outcomes of coverage of providing services and registration of the local administrative organizations have not pass the standard criteria. The opinions as a whole in terms of context of the administrator, practitioners and service users were at a low level. In terms of input, the administrators, practitioners and service users had their opinions as a whole at a high level. In terms of process, the administrators, practitioners, and service users had their opinions as a whole at a high level. In terms of product as a whole of the service users in satisfaction, they had opinions at a high level. In the opinions involving efficiency of the service users, the following were found. Accidents were notified to the service unit by telephone number 1669 at 64 percent. Data sources which knew the emergency medical service system were obtained from hygiene media at 71.43 percent. The service users according to all this system viewed that this system should continue operating. For the results of comparing opinions between the administrator and the practitioners in context and process according to the emergency medical service system involving road traffic, their opinions were not found to be different (p \> .05). In term of input, the administrator had higher opinions than the practitioners at the 0.05 level of significance. In conclusion, in context the opinions of the administrator, practitioner, and service users, and in input the opinions of the practitioners as a whole were at a low level. In input the opinions of the administrator and service users and in process the opinions of the administrator, practitioner, and service users as a whole were at a high level. The results of this study allowed us to know that participation of all the parties involved and of the people was an important factor which should be supported. Allocation of adequate resources for operation in this system would affect provision of services according to the emergency medical service system to people who had road accidents.