Emergency medical services responders' perceptions of the effect of stress and anxiety on patient safety in the out-of-hospital emergency care of children: a qualitative study.

Objective: Prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) providers report anxiety as the second most common contributor to paediatric patient safety events. The objective of this study was to understand how EMS providers perceive the effect of stress and anxiety on paediatric out-of-hospital patient safety.

Setting: This was a nationwide study of EMS providers from 44 of 50 (88%) US states.

Patient Safety Perceptions in Pediatric Out-of-Hospital Emergency Care: Children's Safety Initiative.

Objective: To characterize emergency medical service (EMS) providers' perceptions of the factors that contribute to safety events and errors in the out-of-hospital emergency care of children.

Study Design: We used a Delphi process to achieve consensus in a national sample of 753 emergency medicine physicians and EMS professionals. Convergence and stability were achieved in 3 rounds, and findings were reviewed and interpreted by a national expert panel.