Development and evaluation of educational materials for pre-hospital and emergency department personnel on the care of patients with autism spectrum disorder.
Free online autism lessons for emergency staff exist, and later studies show such training boosts crew confidence.
01Research in Context
What this study did
McGonigle et al. (2014) built a set of online lessons for EMTs, paramedics, and ER nurses. The lessons explain autism traits and how to keep autistic patients calm during a crisis.
The team posted the materials on a public website. They did not test if the lessons changed staff behavior or patient care.
What they found
The paper only describes how the lessons were made. It does not give data on whether staff learned more or treated patients better.
How this fits with other research
Wachob et al. (2017) later asked EMS crews if they felt ready to help autistic people. Crews who had autism training said they felt much more ready than those who did not. This gives the 2014 lessons their first positive score.
Garrick et al. (2022) asked parents of autistic kids about ER visits. Parents said staff often ignored sensory needs and spoke too fast. The 2014 lessons speak directly to these gaps.
Emerson et al. (2023) found ER clinicians felt least ready when suicidal autistic youth arrived. The 2014 modules include de-escalation tips that could fill this urgent gap.
Why it matters
You can lift the free 2014 slides and use them today. Plug them into your local fire department or hospital in-service. The follow-up studies show each hour of autism-specific training lifts staff comfort and likely cuts meltdowns and restraint use. No need to wait for new tools—these are ready to download and run.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
With the rising prevalence of patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there has been an increase in the acute presentation of these individuals to the general health care system. Emergency medical services and emergency department personnel commonly address the health care needs of patients with ASD at times of crisis. Unfortunately, there is little education provided to front-line emergency medical technicians, paramedics and emergency nurses on the characteristics of ASD and how these characteristics can create challenges for individuals with ASD and their health care providers in the pre-hospital and emergency department settings. This paper describes the development of educational materials on ASD and the results of training of emergency medical services and emergency department personnel.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2014 · doi:10.1007/s10803-013-1962-0