Abstract
Purpose
The current study examined attitudes and behavior of first degree emergency medical technician (paramedic) students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel toward DUI (driving under the influence).
Methods
Students were asked to complete an anonymous, self-administered, multiple-choice questionnaire and a demographic questionnaire.
Results
We found that 42% of respondents (n = 59) had driven after drinking, and 56% of them had driven after more than one drink in the past year. Furthermore, 70% of the students had been designated drivers in the past year, 31% of whom had drunk-driven. No significant difference was found between past volunteers at MDA* and those who did not volunteer regarding the number of DUI events or the amount of alcohol consumed, but those who did volunteer drank more when engaging in DUI.
Conclusion
Our findings are worrisome and may reveal the strength of social norms for consumption of alcohol on one hand and the lack of suitable education regarding the dangers of alcohol in the health care department on the other hand.
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Acknowledgment
We acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Adi Ronen from the Faculty of Engineering Sciences in Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, who passed away prematurely during the writing of this article. His research focused on the influence of various substances on physiological performance and subjective feeling on task performing. Dr. Ronen will be greatly missed by his colleagues, students and friends.
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Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The questionnaires were given to the students following an explanation. Responding to the questionnaire was considered consent to participate.
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The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
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* Magen David Adom (MDA), the Israeli national Emergency Medical Service
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Domrev-Benkovich, A., Ronen, A. & Grinstein-Cohen, O. Does experience change anything? Attitudes of paramedic students regarding drinking and driving. J Public Health 25, 465–472 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0814-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0814-3