Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Alwidyan, Mahmoud T.
• Oteir, Alaa O.
• Alrawashdeh, Ahmad
• Maabreh, Ghaidaa M.
• Williams, Brett

Titel

Road user perceptions of appropriateness of ambulance lights and sirens use in developing countries

Ist Teil von

• International emergency nursing, 2022-05, Vol.62, p.101157, Article 101157

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •The majority of motorists perceive the value of yielding to emergency ambulances.•Road users believe that ambulance personnel, sometimes, abuse warning L&S.•About half of motorists perceive that warning L&S may trigger distraction and stress.•Taxi/bus drivers are likely to perceive low importance and high risk of L&S use.•Women are more likely to perceive the high importance of time saved with L&S use. Ambulance lights and sirens use has traditionally been an important strategy to shorten ambulance travel times. This study explored road users’ perceptions toward the importance and risks of lights and sirens use by ambulances in Jordan. A cross-sectional survey was used on a sample of 1700 adult road users in Northern Jordan. The questionnaire included 19 items addressing demographics, driving-related characteristics, and perception statements toward lights and sirens use. Continuous variables were summarized as means and standard deviation and categorical variables were reported as frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test was used to assess differences between categorical variable. A total of 1634 participants completed the questionnaire. The mean age was 32.4 (SD ± 11.4) years, and 65.4% were males. Most participants agreed on the importance of using lights and sirens for emergency medical services to function effectively (96.5%), and penalizing those who do not yield to emergency ambulances (90.2%). However, around half of the participants perceive that lights and sirens could be over-used by ambulance personnel (48.1%), provoke distraction (48.7%) and create stress (50.3%) for road users. These negative perceptions were reported more often among males, taxi/bus drivers, and novice drivers. Although the majority of road users, in our region, acknowledge the importance of ambulance lights and sirens use, about half of them perceive that ambulance lights and sirens put them under stress, distraction, and unacceptable risk. Policy-related and educational interventions might be necessary to monitor the use of ambulance lights and sirens and reduce negative road users’ perceptions.