Use of Self-Efficacy Scale in Mass Casualty Incidents During Drill Exercises.

INTRODUCTION: Medical First Responders (MFRs) in the emergency department SUMMA 112 are tasked with handling the initial management of Mass Casualty Incidents (MCI) and building response capabilities. Training plays a crucial role in preparing these responders for effective disaster management. Yet, evaluating the impact of such training poses challenges since true competency can only be proven amid a major event. As a substitute gauge for training effectiveness, self-efficacy has been suggested. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to employ a pre- and post-test assessment of changes in perceived self-efficacy among MFRs following an intervention focused on the initial management of MCI. It also aimed to evaluate a self-efficacy instrument for its validity and reliability in this type of training. METHOD: In this study, we used a pretest (time 1 = T1) - post-test (time 2 = T2) design to evaluate how self-efficacy changed after a training intervention with 201 MFRs in initial MCI management. ANOVA within-subjects and between subjects analyses were used. RESULTS: The findings reveal a noteworthy change in self-efficacy before and after training among the 201 participants. This suggests that the training intervention positively affected participants' perceived capabilities to handle complex situations like MCI. CONCLUSION: The results allow us to recommend a training program with theory components together with practical workshops and live, large-scale simulation exercises for the training of medical first responders in MCI, as it significantly increases their perception of the level of self-efficacy for developing competencies associated with disaster response.

[Need to approach the obesity in Asturias. Proposal of nursing actions in primary care]. / Necesidad de abordar la obesidad en Asturias. Propuesta de actuaciones de enfermería en atención primaria.

The number of people suffering from overweight and obesity has grown in Spain in recent years and the number of specialists warning us of an epidemic continues to rise. In 2006, the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the alarm in the European Charter on counteracting obesity. Two years later, a number of scientific societies and health organizations at international level agreed that obesity should be treated as a disease and vigorously approached. Asturias is not the exception; for instance between 2002 and 2008 the prevalence of morbid obesity increased from 0.4% to 5.1% in the community. In view of this data it seems essential to launch specific programmes to reverse this trend. In this work we will propose some measures that can be carried out at the primary care level in the public health service in order to offer quality and individualized care plans both to adult and children. First, the need of an exhaustive questionnaire on diet and physical activity to be included in the program of obesity of the clinical computerized history is suggested. Secondly, the Health Administration should promote specific courses on obesity, before the new obesity program was released. Thirdly, institutional publicising of Clinical Guidelines on obesity based on the scientific evidence is recommended so that health professionals are made aware of the importance of this disease.