Prehospital emergency care : official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors
-
Structured data fields, including medication fields involving naloxone, are routinely used to identify opioid overdoses in emergency medical services (EMS) data; between January 2021 and March 2024, there were approximately 1.2 million instances of naloxone administration in the United States. To improve the accuracy of naloxone reporting, we developed methodology for identifying naloxone administration using both structured fields and unstructured patient care narratives for events documented by EMS. ⋯ An additional 115 (26.3%) patients receiving naloxone were identified by using unstructured case narratives compared to structured data. New surveillance methods that incorporate unstructured EMS narratives are critically needed to avoid substantial underestimation of naloxone utilization and enumeration of opioid overdoses.
-
Emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians express dissatisfaction with the quality and quantity of clinical feedback received from hospitals, which is exacerbated by the absence of standardized feedback processes. A reported lack of regular feedback impedes their ability to learn and improve care. We evaluated a newly implemented feedback tool's utilization and perceived impact on EMS clinicians and our health system. ⋯ The standardized feedback mechanism implemented for EMS clinicians showed engagement, especially among ground responders caring for high-acuity patients, highlighting its importance in patient care. The preference for email emphasizes the need for efficient communication channels. Clinicians found the system accessible and user-friendly. The feedback tool was perceived as crucial for professional development and personal growth, allowing clinicians to gain closure on patient cases and potentially improve future patient care practices.
-
Within paramedic education immersive simulation is widely used to teach technical skills, but its application to non-technical aspects of practice, such as research skills, is limited. This study aimed to explore immersive simulation as a tool to teach specific research skills to paramedic students in higher education to investigate its novel capacity beyond the more traditionally considered technical elements of practice. ⋯ Immersive simulation is a valuable pedagogical tool for the delivery of research skills teaching. These findings align with previous research which has investigated immersive simulation for teaching clinical skills, but more broadly, also highlight the compounding positive impact of immersive technology when deployed alongside actors and high-fidelity equipment.
-
In out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), prehospital time is crucial and can be divided into response time, from emergency call to emergency medical service (EMS) contact, and time from EMS contact to hospital arrival. To improve prehospital strategies for pediatric OHCA, it is essential to understand the association between these time intervals and patient outcomes; however, detailed investigations are lacking. The current study aimed to examine the association between response time and time from EMS contact to hospital arrival as well as survival and neurological outcomes in pediatric OHCA. ⋯ A response time of <15 minutes can be associated with better survival and neurological outcomes. However, there is no significant association between time from EMS contact to hospital arrival as well as survival and favorable neurological outcomes.
-
To describe changes in the volume and types of emergency medical services (EMS) calls for children during the COVID-19 pandemic and after availability of the COVID-19 vaccine ("reopening period"). ⋯ The pre-pandemic increase in EMS call volume was disrupted by an acute pandemic-related decline followed by a rebound during reopening. During the pandemic, children were more likely to present with more severe manifestations of disease processes, particularly increased on-scene death for trauma and respiratory illness, and less likely to be transported - with only partial reversal of trends in reopening.