Participants’ perceptions of PEMEC: A co-occurrence network analysis of open-ended questionnaire data

Abstract

Objective: To analyze how participants of the Prehospital Emergency Medical Evaluation and Care (PEMEC) course perceive its content.

Methods: A survey was conducted among PEMEC participants from October 2023 to February 2024. Open-ended responses were collected regarding their reasons for overall evaluation and willingness to recommend the course. Text mining was performed using KH Coder software, employing co-occurrence network and correspondence analyses.

Results: A total of 435 out of 633 participants responded. The analysis revealed that many participants recognized the course as enabling practical use of the PEMEC algorithm in the field and expressed willingness to recommend it to colleagues. In the group that rated the course as “good,” active terms such as “learn,” “think,” and “connect” were frequently observed. Participants with less than 5 years of experience tended to emphasize learning opportunities, those with 5-15 years highlighted practical methods, and those with over 15 years referred to clinical decision-making.

Conclusion: PEMEC was perceived as a useful educational program for field practice. Future challenges include optimizing educational strategies based on participants’ years of clinical experience.