An Elucidation on the Challenges of Pre-hospital Emergency Technicians: A Study on Emergency Medical Technicians in Shiraz, Iran

Background: The identification of the strengths and weaknesses of pre-hospital emergency technicians, as the first providers of treatment services to critically ill patients, is of utmost importance. Objectives: This study was conducted to explain the challenges faced by emergency medical technicians in Shiraz, Iran, within 2021 - 2022. Methods: The present study was a qualitative study that was conducted using the traditional qualitative content analysis (Graneheim and Lundman, 2004). Sampling in this study was purposeful. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 17 emergency technicians in Shiraz. Lincoln and Guba’s standards were used to validate the data. Results: This study identified 3 categories and 12 subcategories. These three categories include management challenges, professional problems, and cultural barriers. Subcategories were “insufficient emergency medical services (EMS) stations”, “lack of human resources”, “role ambiguity”, “lack of organizational support”, lack of job prestige”, “high job stress”, “crowded missions”, “lack of psychotherapy and counseling”, “high-risk profession, “public’s false perception of EMS job”, “abuse of emergency call center services”, and “disrespectful behavior”. Conclusions: Considering that the provision of EMS is an inherently stressful and highly anxious job, some measures can be taken to reduce the mental effects of such pressure on the technicians. In addition, they should run public awareness campaigns to improve the cultural level of society to better understand the duties and activities of EMS workers at the community level.