Why the study?
Measuring how UK paramedics respond to pathological ECG patterns from transient loss of consciousness (TLoC) patients is relevant to NHS auditors and healthcare educators.
A 20-item online ECG interpretation test for paramedic students takes a median of 20 minutes to complete, with longer completion times (30-60 minutes) associated with better performance.
BACKGROUND: Measuring how UK paramedics respond to pathological ECG patterns from transient loss of consciousness (TLoC) patients is relevant to both NHS auditors and healthcare educators (see NICE Clinical Guideline 109 (CG109)).AIM: To determine the time required to complete a new online 20-item multiplechoice test for assessing basic ECG interpretation ability in the context of TLoC.METHODS: Participating paramedic university programmes helped us recruit their students for a test presented on the Qualtrics platform.RESULTS: In a sub-cohort of 207 UK year 2 and 3 paramedic students who fulfilled our inclusion criteria, we found that the median time to complete this test was approximately 20 minutes.The fastest time for a participant to answer correctly a reasonable number of items was just over 6 minutes.Students who spent 30-60 minutes performed better than those who spent < 30 minutes.CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study with student participants buttresses the use of this method to do a larger audit of professionals in this field.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Witchel et al. (2025) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: