Prepulse inhibition and call alerting in emergency medical services

Abstract

The present study determined if the current AHS EMS call alert was startling to paramedics and if a prepulse moderated the magnitude of the startle response. Fifty paramedics were exposed to four call alerts (two with and two without a prepulse) in counterbalanced order. Participants’ responses were measured using EMG blink magnitude, heart rate, perceived signal intensity, and perceived dislike. Paramedics responded to the call alert with a significant magnitude startle reflex blink and an increase in heart rate. Adding a prepulse caused a significant reduction in the magnitude of the startle blink, perceived sound intensity, and perception of dislike of the call alert. This study demonstrates that the call alert is startling to paramedics and that adding a prepulse can moderate the response.