Situation awareness in Sweden’s emergency medical services: a goal-directed task analysis

Situation awareness is knowing what is going on in the situation. Clinicians working in the emergency medical services (EMS) encounter numerous situations in various conditions, and to be able to provide efficient and patient safe care they need to understand what is going on and possible projections of the current situation. The design of this study encompassed a Goal-Directed Task analysis where situation awareness information requirements were mapped in relation to goals related to various aspects of the EMS mission. A group of 30 EMS subject matter experts were recruited and answered a web-based survey in three rounds related to what they though themselves or a colleague might need to achieve situation awareness related to the specific goals of various situations. The answers were analysed using content analysis and descriptive statistics. Answers reached consensus at a predetermined level of 75%. Those who reached consensus were entered into the final goal-directed task analysis protocol. The findings presented that EMS clinicians must rely on their own, or their colleagues prior experience or knowledge to achieve situation awareness. This suggests that individual expertise plays a crucial role in developing situation awareness. There also seems to be limited support for situation awareness from organizational guidelines. Furthermore, achieving situation awareness also involves collaborative efforts from the individuals involved in the situation. These findings could add to the foundation for further investigation in this area which could contribute to the development of strategies and tools to enhance situation awareness among EMS clinicians, ultimately improving patient care and safety.