TY - JOUR T1 - Norwegian regular general practitioners’ experiences with out-of-hours emergency situations and procedures JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 528 LP - 533 DO - 10.1136/emj.2007.054338 VL - 25 IS - 8 AU - E Zakariassen AU - H Sandvik AU - S Hunskaar Y1 - 2008/08/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/25/8/528.abstract N2 - Objective: To study the participation of Norwegian regular general practitioners (RGPs) in the out-of-hours system in 2006 and what kind of emergency situations and procedures they experienced in the past 12 months. RGPs’ confidence in performing certain emergency procedures was also mapped.Methods: In May 2006 all 3804 RGPs taking part in the RGP scheme in Norway were sent a questionnaire dealing with several aspects of the emergency out-of-hours duty. The RGPs who had participated were asked about 14 pre-selected emergency situations, experiences with different pre-selected emergency procedures and their self-confidence with these in the past 12 months.Results: After two reminders 2913 (78%) answered and 1832 (63%) confirmed they had taken part in emergency out-of-hours services in the past 12 months. 95% of participating RGPs answered questions about emergency situations, 74–78% about emergency procedures. The most common situations were chest pain, psychiatric problems and asthma, experienced by 94%, 92% and 88%, respectively. The number of occasions the doctors had experienced the most frequent emergency procedures (presented as median 25–75% percentiles) were: intravenous medication, three (1–10); oxygen mask, three (1–10); venous access, four (1–10). The doctors reported almost no experiences with other procedures. The doctors reported a high self-confidence in performing the emergency procedures. Male doctors working four or more shifts per month and doctors working in rural areas reported more experiences both in emergency situations and procedures.Conclusion: Approximately two-thirds of RGPs in Norway took part in the out-of-hours service. A wide variety of emergency cases was experienced by the RGPs. Despite this, experiences with most emergency procedures during a 12-month period are low. Regular training is therefore necessary to maintain good skill levels. ER -