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Table 1 An example of coding and development of categories and themes

From: Major challenges and barriers in clinical decision-making as perceived by emergency medical services personnel: a qualitative content analysis

Meaning units

Coding

Category

Theme

On some missions when we have to deal with a large number of casualties, my colleagues and I get confused and find it hard to make a good decision. In my experience, this is because we are not skilled enough in teamwork and time management (P,19)

Teamwork skill

Time management

Clinical competence

Professional capabilities

Some of the ambulances in inter-city and rural emergency stations lack such medical devices as suction machines, cardiac monitors, pulse oximeter, and ventilators. Even now that we have to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic, we don’t have access to personal protective equipment, like masks, gloves, and special gowns (P,24)

Lack of medical devices

Lack of personal protective equipment

Challenges of Human resources and medical equipment

Inefficient organizational management