Variance Analysis of Expatriate Pre-Hospital Provider Training in Bahrain

Abstract

Moza M Alnoaimi,1,2 Alexander Hart,1,3 Fadi Issa,1,4 Attila Hertelendy,1,5 Amalia Voskanyan,1 Gregory Ciottone1,4 1Department of Emergency Medicine, Disaster Medicine Fellowship, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre (BIDMC), Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Emergency Medicine, Bahrain Defence Force Royal Medical Services Military Hospital, Riffa, Bahrain; 3Department of Emergency Medicine, Hartford Hospital, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Hartford, CT, USA; 4Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA; 5Department of Information Systems and Business Analytics, College of Business, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USACorrespondence: Moza M Alnoaimi, Fellow, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre (BIDMC) Disaster Medicine fellowship, Department of Emergency Medicine, BIDMC, Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA, USA, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: The absence of local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) educational programs in Bahrain has given rise to an EMS workforce comprised predominantly of expatriate personnel with varying educational backgrounds that require further training before being licensed as EMS providers in Bahrain.Methods: A qualitative variance analysis was performed comparing desired core competencies for EMS practice in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, used as a comparator for Bahrain, with core competencies extracted from national curricula of the major countries from which expatriate providers originate.Results: Major core competencies not covered by the expatriate providers’ curricula were identified as follows: working in an autonomous environment, requiring different critical thinking and decision-making skills, assessment and treatment during transportation, disaster response, EMS knowledge base, and coping with the different stressors of the prehospital environment.Conclusion: These results can form the basis for additional customized training programs for expatriate EMS providers working in Bahrain, with the goal of improving and standardizing EMS care in the country.Keywords: core competencies, emergency medical services, paramedics, pre-hospital, registered nurses, training

Keywords

• core competencies
• emergency medical services
• paramedics
• pre-hospital
• registered nurses
• training