Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Paramedics are a vital component of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workforce and the United States health care system. The continued provision of high-quality care demands constantly improving education at accredited institutions. To date, only limited characteristics of paramedic education in the United States have been documented and studied in the literature. The objective of this study was to describe the educational infrastructure of accredited paramedic programs in the United States in 2018.
METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional evaluation of the 2018 paramedic program annual report from The Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions (CoAEMSP; Rowlett, Texas USA). The dataset includes detailed program metrics. Additionally, questions concerning program characteristics, demographics, and resources were asked as part of the evaluation. Resource availability was assessed via the Resource Assessment Matrix (RAM) with a benchmark of 80%. Included in the analysis are all paramedic programs with students enrolled. Descriptive statistics were calculated (median, [interquartile range/IQR]).
RESULTS: A total of 677 programs submitted data (100% response rate). Of these, 626 met inclusion criteria, totaling 17,422 students. Program annual enrollment varied greatly from one to 362 with most programs having small sizes (18 students [IQR 12-30]). Program duration was 12 months [IQR 12-16] with total hours of instruction being approximately 1,174 [IQR 1069-1304], 19% of which were dedicated to clinical experience. Full-time faculty sizes were small (two faculty members [IQR 1-3]) with most programs (80%) having annual operating budgets below USD$500,000. For programs with an annual budget below USD$100,000 (34% of programs), annual enrollment was approximately 14 students [IQR 9-21]. Degrees conferred by programs included certificates (90%), associate degrees (55%), and bachelor\'s degree (2%). Simulation access was assessed with nearly all (100%) programs reporting simple task trainers and 84% of programs investing in advanced simulation manikins. Seventy-eight percent of programs met the RAM benchmark.
CONCLUSIONS: Most paramedic educational programs in the United States have small annual enrollments with low numbers of dedicated faculty and confer certificates and associate degrees. Nearly one-quarter of paramedic educational programs are not adequately resourced. This study is limited by self-reported data to the national accreditation agency. Future work is needed to identify program characteristics that are associated with high performance.
METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional evaluation of the 2018 paramedic program annual report from The Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the EMS Professions (CoAEMSP; Rowlett, Texas USA). The dataset includes detailed program metrics. Additionally, questions concerning program characteristics, demographics, and resources were asked as part of the evaluation. Resource availability was assessed via the Resource Assessment Matrix (RAM) with a benchmark of 80%. Included in the analysis are all paramedic programs with students enrolled. Descriptive statistics were calculated (median, [interquartile range/IQR]).
RESULTS: A total of 677 programs submitted data (100% response rate). Of these, 626 met inclusion criteria, totaling 17,422 students. Program annual enrollment varied greatly from one to 362 with most programs having small sizes (18 students [IQR 12-30]). Program duration was 12 months [IQR 12-16] with total hours of instruction being approximately 1,174 [IQR 1069-1304], 19% of which were dedicated to clinical experience. Full-time faculty sizes were small (two faculty members [IQR 1-3]) with most programs (80%) having annual operating budgets below USD$500,000. For programs with an annual budget below USD$100,000 (34% of programs), annual enrollment was approximately 14 students [IQR 9-21]. Degrees conferred by programs included certificates (90%), associate degrees (55%), and bachelor\'s degree (2%). Simulation access was assessed with nearly all (100%) programs reporting simple task trainers and 84% of programs investing in advanced simulation manikins. Seventy-eight percent of programs met the RAM benchmark.
CONCLUSIONS: Most paramedic educational programs in the United States have small annual enrollments with low numbers of dedicated faculty and confer certificates and associate degrees. Nearly one-quarter of paramedic educational programs are not adequately resourced. This study is limited by self-reported data to the national accreditation agency. Future work is needed to identify program characteristics that are associated with high performance.
摘要：
背景：护理人员是紧急医疗服务（EMS）劳动力和美国医疗保健系统的重要组成部分。继续提供高质量的护理需要不断改善认可机构的教育。迄今为止,文献中仅记录和研究了美国护理人员教育的有限特征。这项研究的目的是描述2018年美国认可的护理人员计划的教育基础设施。
方法：这是一个回顾性研究，EMS专业教育计划认证委员会对2018年护理人员计划年度报告的横截面评估(CoAEMSP；Rowlett，美国德克萨斯州）。数据集包括详细的程序度量。此外,关于节目特点的问题，人口统计，和资源被要求作为评估的一部分。通过资源评估矩阵（RAM）评估资源可用性，基准为80％。分析中包括所有注册学生的护理人员计划。计算了描述性统计数据(中位数，[四分位数间距/IQR]）。
结果：共有677个项目提交了数据（应答率100％）。其中,626符合纳入标准，共有17,422名学生。计划的年度入学人数从1到362变化很大，大多数计划的规模很小（18名学生[IQR12-30]）。课程持续时间为12个月[IQR12-16]，教学总时数约为1,174[IQR1069-1304]，其中19％致力于临床经验。全职教师规模很小（两名教师[IQR1-3]），大多数课程（80％）的年度运营预算低于50万美元。对于年度预算低于100,000美元的计划（占计划的34％），每年约有14名学生[IQR9-21]。课程授予的学位包括证书(90%)，副学士学位(55%)，和学士学位（2%）。几乎所有（100％）程序都报告了简单的任务培训师，而84％的程序投资了高级仿真模型，对模拟访问进行了评估。78%的程序符合RAM基准。
结论：美国大多数护理人员教育计划的年度入学人数很少，专门的教师人数很少，并授予证书和副学士学位。近四分之一的护理人员教育计划没有足够的资源。这项研究受到国家认证机构自我报告数据的限制。需要将来的工作来识别与高性能相关的程序特征。
方法：这是一个回顾性研究，EMS专业教育计划认证委员会对2018年护理人员计划年度报告的横截面评估(CoAEMSP；Rowlett，美国德克萨斯州）。数据集包括详细的程序度量。此外,关于节目特点的问题，人口统计，和资源被要求作为评估的一部分。通过资源评估矩阵（RAM）评估资源可用性，基准为80％。分析中包括所有注册学生的护理人员计划。计算了描述性统计数据(中位数，[四分位数间距/IQR]）。
结果：共有677个项目提交了数据（应答率100％）。其中,626符合纳入标准，共有17,422名学生。计划的年度入学人数从1到362变化很大，大多数计划的规模很小（18名学生[IQR12-30]）。课程持续时间为12个月[IQR12-16]，教学总时数约为1,174[IQR1069-1304]，其中19％致力于临床经验。全职教师规模很小（两名教师[IQR1-3]），大多数课程（80％）的年度运营预算低于50万美元。对于年度预算低于100,000美元的计划（占计划的34％），每年约有14名学生[IQR9-21]。课程授予的学位包括证书(90%)，副学士学位(55%)，和学士学位（2%）。几乎所有（100％）程序都报告了简单的任务培训师，而84％的程序投资了高级仿真模型，对模拟访问进行了评估。78%的程序符合RAM基准。
结论：美国大多数护理人员教育计划的年度入学人数很少，专门的教师人数很少，并授予证书和副学士学位。近四分之一的护理人员教育计划没有足够的资源。这项研究受到国家认证机构自我报告数据的限制。需要将来的工作来识别与高性能相关的程序特征。
