BACKGROUND: Clinical reasoning is fundamental to safe and effective Emergency Medical Services (EMS) care. EMS providers operate in dynamic, time-pressured environments characterised by diagnostic uncertainty, limited information, and high-stakes decisions. These conditions necessitate rapid yet adaptable …

This thesis aims to evaluate the potential of an aluminum extension to improve the operational service level of the Zeelandbrug, in terms of capacity and safety. This encompasses assessing the bridge's current performance, investigating evolving regional transport demands, defining improvement priorities, …

Intubated critically ill patients are susceptible to secretion accumulation because of compromised airway clearance. Various airway clearance interventions are employed to prevent complications arising from mucus retention. This Delphi study aims to collect global opinions in an international expert …

Objective In 2016, a selective preventive spinal immobilization protocol for emergency medical service (EMS) nurses was introduced in the Netherlands. This protocol leaves more room for autonomous decision-making in the pre-hospital phase regarding preventive spinal immobilization (PSI), compared to …

The Sloe area is an unembanked industrial port area in Zeeland. As sea levels rise, this area will experience increased flood risks. This is partly due to climate change, which is causing sea level rise to accelerate, and partly due to the area's vulnerability because it is located outside the dike ring, …

Background: The quality of care given by EMS staff is in part monitored by routine review of deployment reports that the providers must complete after each deployment. The assessment consists of determining whether a deployment was performed in a medically correct manner and thus whether the clinical …

Background: There is a lack of evidence regarding the relationship between family involvement and outcomes in gastrointestinal oncology patients after surgery. To evaluate the effect of a family involvement program for patients undergoing oncologic gastrointestinal surgery on unplanned readmissions within …

This thesis presents the design, development, and evaluation of a Mixed Reality (MR) training application aimed at identifying methods of artificially inducing stress to enhance realism in Emergency Response simulations. Emergency Responders are often in stressful scenarios and require a high stress …

Background : Optimizing transitional care by practicing family-centered care might reduce unplanned events for patients who undergo major abdominal cancer surgery. However, it remains unknown whether involving family caregivers in patients’ healthcare also has negative consequences for patient safety. …

Introduction : The transition from hospital to home is often suboptimal, resulting in patients not receiving the necessary allied healthcare after discharge. This may, in turn, lead to delayed recovery, a higher number of readmissions, more emergency department visits and an increase in mortality and …