EMT domestic violence knowledge and the results of an educational intervention

The objective of this study was to determine levels of knowledge regarding domestic violence (DV), and the effectiveness of formal instruction about D V. A general knowledge survey of DV was given before and approximately 4 to 6 months after 3 hours of instruction given by Emergency Medicine and Law Enforcement faculty, A Emergency medical service (EMS) consisting of 73% pa ramedic level providers in a metropolitan urban/suburban area. Differences in DV knowledge before and after the instruction were the main outcome meas ures. In the preinstruction series, 46 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) participated. After the instruction 19 EMTs participated (42%). Thirty-fiv e percent of EMTs before instruction and 37% after instruction correctly id entified the prevalence of DV against women as 15% to 30%. Thirty-five perc ent of EMTs before instruction and 63% after instruction (P < .05) correctl y identified the prevalence of DV against men as 0% to 15%. Before instruct ion 54% knew that DV is equal among races, and 79% after instruction (P < . 05), Before instruction 37% of EMTs knew that DV is equal in different soci oeconomic groups and 68% after instruction (P < .05), The percent of EMTs w ho knew that the victim is not responsible for the abuse was 50% before ins truction and 89% after instruction (P < .05). Before instruction, the resul ts on a knowledge questionnaire were 54% correct, after instruction, result s improved to 71% correct. improvement in understanding of DV was shown for 4 of 11 questions after 3 hours of instruction. These results indicate the need for more instruction on DV for EMTs. (Am J Emerg Med 2000;18:168-171, Copyright (C) 2000 by W.B, Saunders Company).