A comparative study of the effect of triage training by role-playing and educational video on the knowledge and performance of emergency medical service staffs in Iran.
BACKGROUND
Educating emergency medical staffs in triage skills is an important aspect of disaster preparedness. The aim of the study was to compare the effect of role-playing and educational video presentation on the learning and performance of the emergency medical service staffs in Khozestan, Iran


METHODS
A total of 144 emergency technicians were randomly classified into two groups. A researcher trained the first group using an educational video method and the second group with a role-playing method. Data were collected before, immediately, and 15 days after training using a questionnaire covering the three domains of demographic information, triage knowledge, and triage performance. The data were analyzed using defined knowledge and performance parameters.


RESULTS
There was no significant difference between the two training methods on performance and immediate knowledge (P = .2), lasting knowledge (P=.05) and immediate performance (P = .35), but there was a statistical advantage for the role-playing method on lasting performance (P = .02).


CONCLUSIONS
The two educational methods equally increase knowledge and performance, but the role-playing method may have a more desirable and lasting effect on performance.
1 Department of Emergency Medicine and Nursing, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Iran.
Hamidreza
H
Aghababaeian
Soheila
S
Sedaghat
Noorallah
N
Tahery
Ali Sadeghi
AS
Moghaddam
Mohammad
M
Maniei
Nosrat
N
Bahrami
Ladan Araghi
LA
Ahvazi
D000328:Adult; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012381:Role Playing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014218:Triage; D014741:Video Recording