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Comparison of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Technology versus Standard Practice of Scene Assessment by Paramedic Students of a Mass-Gathering Event

Part of: Technology Developments in Prehospital and Disaster Medicine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2021

Trevor Jain Open the ORCID record for Trevor Jain [Opens in a new window] ,
Aaron Sibley Open the ORCID record for Aaron Sibley [Opens in a new window] ,
Henrik Stryhn ,
Adam Lund  and
Ives Hubloue
Trevor Jain*
Affiliation:
Division of Paramedicine, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
Aaron Sibley
Affiliation:
Division of Paramedicine, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
Henrik Stryhn
Affiliation:
Department of Health Management, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
Adam Lund
Affiliation:
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Ives Hubloue
Affiliation:
Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel; Research Group in Emergency and Disaster Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Jette, Belgium
*
Correspondence: Trevor Jain, MSM, CD, MD, MSc University Of Prince Edward Island Division of Paramedicine Duffy Science Centre #430 550 University Ave Charlottetown, PEIC1A 4P3Canada E-mail: Tjain@upei.ca
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Abstract

Introduction:

The proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology has the potential to change the situational awareness of medical incident commanders’ (ICs’) scene assessment of mass gatherings. Mass gatherings occur frequently and the potential for injury at these events is considered higher than the general population. These events have generated mass-casualty incidents (MCIs) in the past. The aim of this study was to compare UAV technology to standard practice (SP) in scene assessment using paramedic students during a mass-gathering event (MGE).

Methods:

This study was conducted in two phases. Phase One consisted of validation of the videos and accompanying data collection tool. Phase One was completed by 11 experienced paramedics from a provincial Emergency Medical Services (EMS) service. Phase Two was a randomized comparison with 47 paramedic students from the Holland College Paramedicine Program (Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada) of the two scene assessment systems. For Phase Two, the paramedic students were randomized into a UAV or a SP group. The data collection tool consisted of two board categories: primary importance with 20 variables and secondary importance with 25 variables. After a brief narrative, participants were either shown UAV footage or the ground footage depending on their study group. After completion of the videos, study participants completed the data collection tool.

Results:

The Phase One validation showed good consensus in answers to most questions (average 79%; range 55%-100%). For Phase Two, a Fisher’s exact test was used to compare each variable from the UAV and SP groups using a P value of .05. Phase Two demonstrated a significant difference between the SP and UAV groups in four of 20 primary variables. Additionally, significant differences were found for seven out of 25 secondary variables.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrated the accurate, safe, and feasible use of a UAV as a tool for scene assessment by paramedic students at an MGE. No observed statistical difference was noted in a majority of both primary and secondary variables using a UAV for scene assessment versus SP.

Keywords

disaster medicineEMSmass gatheringssituational awarenessUAVs
Type
Research Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 36 , Issue 6 , December 2021 , pp. 756 - 761
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine

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