Exploring paramedics' lived experiences in confrontation with patients' death during missions: a phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND: Emergency personnel are the first line of emergency response systems to respond to emergencies; in essence, they are usually exposed to a wide range of physical and psychological problems. Accordingly, the current study aimed to clarify the lived experiences of paramedics when exposed to Patients' Deaths during their missions in 2023. METHODS: This study was carried out using a qualitative approach and interpretative phenomenology from January 9, 2022, to September 21, 2023. The research was performed in Fars, Alborz, and Isfahan provinces in Iran. Data were gathered using semi-structured interviews with 17 male emergency personnel (both from the emergency medical service and Red Crescent). The obtained data were analyzed utilizing Smith's approach to clarify the lived experiences of emergency responders when facing deaths in various incidents in Iran. RESULTS: Seventeen emergency personnel with the age range of 24-60 (average = 39) years and with a history of confronting patients' deaths during their services were interviewed. Their lived experiences of being exposed to patients' deaths during the emergency response in Iran were classified into three main themes: psychological and emotional status, personality, disposition, and behavior status, and mental and physical status. Sub-themes such as psychological and emotional problems, mental and physical problems, and sub-subthemes such as anxiety, stress, decreased appetite, irritability, insomnia, forgetfulness, and fatigue were also noted within the main themes. CONCLUSION: While emergency personnel work diligently to save the lives of patients, the current study demonstrated that they were susceptible to multiple psychological, emotional, and physical problems, which potentially affect their lives outside of the workplace and make them more vulnerable to related physiological and psychological diseases. It is recommended that policymakers and clinical educators make ways to prevent these problems and provide emergency personnel with physical, psychological, and emotional support.

Lived experiences of Iranian prehospital emergency technicians in facing women's emergencies: a phenomenological study.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to investigate the work problems and challenges of male prehospital emergency technicians when faced with female medical emergencies. Given that qualitative research has not been done in this field, planning to find the weak points and improve the quality of prehospital emergency as the first line of treatment for female emergency patients, which is considered an important part of the health care system, is considered important and valuable. Therefore, this phenomenological study was conducted in 2023. METHODS: This study was conducted using a qualitative method of phenomenology in 2023. The environment of the research was urban and road prehospital emergency centers in Iran and the data were collected through interviews with EMS technicians. The collected data were analyzed using Smith's approach to explain the lived experiences of EMS technicians facing female emergencies or women's emergencies in Iran. RESULTS: All the 15 participants were men. Their mean age was 35 years, with a range of 25 to 45 years, and with a mean work experience of 10.54 years with a range of 4 to 20 years. The lived experiences of 115 emergency technicians in facing women's emergencies in Iran were placed in four main themes cultural-social factors, organizational factors, human resources-related factors, and administrative-legal factors. CONCLUSION: EMS personnel face various obstacles in carrying out missions related to women's emergencies, Considering the critical nature of women's emergencies, it is recommended that policymakers and clinical educators improve the level of community culture, communication skills, theoretical and practical training, respecting privacy, hiring female personnel, adding specialized equipment, amending and changing laws, removing road-traffic obstacles and to support personnel, patients and their families psychologically to optimize performance in women's emergencies.

Terrorist attacks in Iran: A counter-terrorism medicine analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Terrorism is a combined phenomenon, the concept of which is strongly affected by the spatial and temporal situation. Terrorist attacks can affect the demand for and delivery of healthcare services and often put a unique burden on the first responders, hospitals, and health systems. This study provides an epidemiological description of all -terrorist-related attacks in Iran from 1979 to 2020. METHODS: Data were collected using a retrospective search through Global Terrorism Database (GTD). GTD was searched using internal database search functions for all incidents that occurred in Iran from January 1, 1979, to December 31, 2020. The target type, attack type, primary weapon type, perpetrator group, country where the incident occurred, and the number of fatalities and injuries were collected, and the results were analyzed. RESULTS: In total, 543 terrorist attacks were identified in the study period, which resulted in the fatality of 1,150 people and the injury of 3,792 people. It indicates 2.12 fatalities and 7,009 injuries per incident. Explosives were used in 301 attacks (55.63 percent), followed by incendiary weapons in 177 attacks (32.71 percent). The most significant types of attacks are bombings in 290 attacks (52.3 percent), followed by assassination in 99 attacks (17.9 percent), and armed assaults in 81 attacks (14.6 percent). CONCLUSION: Due to a decreasing trend of terrorist incidents in Iran, we can state that national security and stability have improved in Iran. However, the development of security promotion policies and passive defense approaches can help prevent the occurrence of such incidents.