Effectiveness of an Emergency Medical Knowledge and Skills Enhancement Program for Emergency Medical Volunteers in Krabi Province

Abstract

              This quasi-experimental study used a one-group pretest–posttest design to compare emergency medical knowledge, attitudes, and skills among emergency medical responders in Krabi Province before and after participation in a training program. Forty participants were purposively selected according to the eligibility criteria and received an eight-week program. Research instruments included the emergency medical knowledge and skills enhancement program, a demographic questionnaire, a knowledge test, an attitude assessment, and a skills assessment. The knowledge test had a Kuder–Richardson 20 reliability coefficient of .78, the attitude assessment had a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of .88, and the skills assessment had an intraclass correlation coefficient of .86. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, with statistical significance set at .05.

            The results showed that mean knowledge scores increased from 8.85 (SD = 1.21) to 10.90 (SD = 1.53), mean attitude scores increased from 38.08 (SD = 2.75) to 41.75 (SD = 2.79), and mean skills scores increased from 15.20 (SD = 2.34) to 21.05 (SD = 2.75). Post-intervention scores were significantly higher than pre-intervention scores in all three domains (p < .001). These findings may inform the development of training for emergency medical responders in the study area. However, further studies incorporating a comparison group and long-term follow-up are needed to confirm the program’s effects and assess the retention of knowledge and skills.