The Nursing graduate from the University of Santiago and professor of Education and Sports Sciences at the University of Vigo, Roberto Barcala Furelos, has defended his doctoral thesis: Skills assessment in drowning incidents by rescuers, which has been awarded the qualification of outstanding cum laude, awarded by the panel formed by professors Joost Bierens from the Vrije University of Brussels, Robert Greif from the University of Bern and Felipe Fernández Méndez from the University of Vigo.
The doctoral student is the leader of the REMOSS research group at the University of Vigo and a member of the CLINURSID groups at the University of Santiago and SICRUS at the Santiago de Compostela Health Research Institute. (IDIS). The thesis, which has been carried out by compendium of 6 scientific publications in bibliometric impact journals, 4 of them international, has been directed by professors Antonio Rodríguez Núñez and Santiago Martínez Isasi.
The thesis is focused on the search for evidence on the prevention and care of drowning and includes a systematic review, a consensus guide for the performance of first responders during a pandemic and four studies on first responders with simulation methodology. Their results include: a) the identification of four profiles of lay rescuers with different skill levels, b) the verification of the effects of electrostimulation on the recovery of rescuers, c) the feasibility of cardiopulmonary resuscitation maneuvers on a motorcycle of rescue water, and d) the potential usefulness of plastic blankets and other personal protection systems in the resuscitation of the drowned both on land and in a boat during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This thesis joins those defended in recent years by nurses from the USC School of Nursing and those currently being prepared, which reflect the incorporation of nurses into doctoral studies and research activities.
