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Barriers to reporting child maltreatment: do emergency medical services professionals fully understand their role as mandatory reporters?

Publication ,  Journal Article
Lynne, EG; Gifford, EJ; Evans, KE; Rosch, JB
Published in: North Carolina medical journal
January 2015

Child maltreatment is underreported in the United States and in North Carolina. In North Carolina and other states, mandatory reporting laws require various professionals to make reports, thereby helping to reduce underreporting of child maltreatment. This study aims to understand why emergency medical services (EMS) professionals may fail to report suspicions of maltreatment despite mandatory reporting policies.A web-based, anonymous, voluntary survey of EMS professionals in North Carolina was used to assess knowledge of their agency's written protocols and potential reasons for underreporting suspicion of maltreatment (n=444). Results were based on descriptive statistics. Responses of line staff and leadership personnel were compared using chi-square analysis.Thirty-eight percent of respondents were unaware of their agency's written protocols regarding reporting of child maltreatment. Additionally, 25% of EMS professionals who knew of their agency's protocol incorrectly believed that the report should be filed by someone other than the person with firsthand knowledge of the suspected maltreatment. Leadership personnel generally understood reporting requirements better than did line staff. Respondents indicated that peers may fail to report maltreatment for several reasons: they believe another authority would file the report, including the hospital (52.3%) or law enforcement (27.7%); they are uncertain whether they had witnessed abuse (47.7%); and they are uncertain about what should be reported (41.4%).This survey may not generalize to all EMS professionals in North Carolina.Training opportunities for EMS professionals that address proper identification and reporting of child maltreatment, as well as cross-agency information sharing, are warranted.

Duke Scholars

Published In

North Carolina medical journal

ISSN

0029-2559

Publication Date

January 2015

Volume

76

Issue

1

Start / End Page

13 / 18

Related Subject Headings

  • North Carolina
  • Mandatory Reporting
  • Humans
  • Emergency Medical Technicians
  • Clinical Competence
  • Child Abuse
  • Child
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
 

Citation

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MLA
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Lynne, E. G., Gifford, E. J., Evans, K. E., & Rosch, J. B. (2015). Barriers to reporting child maltreatment: do emergency medical services professionals fully understand their role as mandatory reporters? North Carolina Medical Journal, 76(1), 13–18.
Lynne, Ellen Grace, Elizabeth J. Gifford, Kelly E. Evans, and Joel B. Rosch. “Barriers to reporting child maltreatment: do emergency medical services professionals fully understand their role as mandatory reporters?North Carolina Medical Journal 76, no. 1 (January 2015): 13–18.
Lynne EG, Gifford EJ, Evans KE, Rosch JB. Barriers to reporting child maltreatment: do emergency medical services professionals fully understand their role as mandatory reporters? North Carolina medical journal. 2015 Jan;76(1):13–8.
Lynne, Ellen Grace, et al. “Barriers to reporting child maltreatment: do emergency medical services professionals fully understand their role as mandatory reporters?North Carolina Medical Journal, vol. 76, no. 1, Jan. 2015, pp. 13–18.
Lynne EG, Gifford EJ, Evans KE, Rosch JB. Barriers to reporting child maltreatment: do emergency medical services professionals fully understand their role as mandatory reporters? North Carolina medical journal. 2015 Jan;76(1):13–18.

Published In

North Carolina medical journal

ISSN

0029-2559

Publication Date

January 2015

Volume

76

Issue

1

Start / End Page

13 / 18

Related Subject Headings

  • North Carolina
  • Mandatory Reporting
  • Humans
  • Emergency Medical Technicians
  • Clinical Competence
  • Child Abuse
  • Child
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • 42 Health sciences
  • 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences