EMERGENCY AND URGENT MEDICAL CONDITION - LEVEL OF AWARENESS AND THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AMONG PEOPLE IN THE STARA ZAGORA REGION IN BULGARIA

PURPOSE: The purpose of the present study is to determine the level of awareness among people about emergency and urgent medical care, as well as their need to obtain additional information. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data were collected through a questionnaire filled out by 312 random people living in the Stara Zagora region in Bulgaria. A pilot survey was conducted in the period of January-March 2024. The persons surveyed were from the Stara Zagora region, aged from 18 to 80 years old. The processing and analysis of the results were performed with Microsoft Office Excel 2010. RESULTS: Emergency medical services are an important element of the healthcare system of any country, as they provide opportunities to respond to critical medical conditions and save lives. A number of the reviewed articles mainly described the reasons for using emergency medical care, and very little information on whether medical service users are aware of which condition is "emergency" and which is "urgent". A large proportion of patients present to an urgent care center or emergency department with problems that can be managed at the emergency medical level. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows a lack of public knowledge of emergency and urgent medical care, which in turn proves the need for interventions to improve public knowledge.