Work-related factors, cognitive skills, unsafe behavior and safety incident involvement among emergency medical services crew members: relationships and indirect effects

Objectives. This study examines relationships between work-related factors - stress and fatigue, cognitive skills - situation awareness and cognitive flexibility, unsafe behavior and safety incident involvement among emergency medical services (EMS) crew members, and whether cognitive skills and unsafe behavior together indirectly affect the relationship between work-related factors and safety incident involvement. Methods. A sample of 131 EMS crew members working in ground ambulances (physicians, paramedics, ambulance drivers) completed self-report questionnaires. Results. The correlation analysis showed significant positive interrelationships between work-related factors, unsafe behavior and safety incident involvement, and that cognitive skills were significantly negatively related to these variables. The multiple indirect effects analysis revealed significant indirect effects of both work-related factors on safety incident involvement through situation awareness and unsafe behavior, but not through cognitive flexibility. Conclusion. In terms of reducing the number of EMS provider and patient safety incidents, the findings suggest the importance of reducing stress and fatigue in EMS crew members, improving their cognitive skills, in particular situation awareness, and supporting their safety compliance behavior.