Title: Prehospital emergency medical treatment teams' competence to act in an AMOK situation

Authors: Armand Faganel; Zlatko Kvržić; Mirko Markič

Addresses: Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Izolska vrata 2, 6000 Koper, Slovenia ' Ministry of Defence, Vojkova cesta 55, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia ' Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Izolska vrata 2, 6000 Koper, Slovenia

Abstract: The present paper inquires the realisation of activities within the occurrence of an event with an active shooter. The purpose of the paper is to explore the range to which Slovenian members of the Emergency medical treatment (EMT) prehospital teams were familiar to the action recommendations of EMT teams in the occurrence of an AMOK situation. Further purpose was to inquire whether EMT teams are ready to confirm the link between awareness and their perceived competences. An online survey among 252 members of the EMT prehospital teams was employed, using a convenience sampling. The analysis shows that EMT team members agree that the regularity of joint drill with armed forces importantly affects their qualification for a correct action. But nevertheless, EMT members seem to be well-informed about the recommendations from a theoretical point of view. This study makes several contributions to the EMT teams' assessment of their readiness to respond in the case of an AMOK attack in a relatively safe European country.

Keywords: AMOK; active shooter; communication; risk assessment; training; perception; safety protocol; public safety; EMT; emergency medical treatment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAM.2023.132336

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, 2023 Vol.26 No.1, pp.58 - 74

Accepted: 30 Jan 2023
Published online: 18 Jul 2023 *

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