Developing an Emergency Medical Services Research Reading List for Emergency Medical Services Practitioners

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
• Prehospital Care Research
• Evidence-Based Practice

Background:

• High-impact primary research is crucial for advancing Emergency Medical Services (EMS) education and protocols.
• A gap exists in efficiently identifying and prioritizing key recent research for EMS practitioners and leaders.
• Curated primary research is vital for translating scientific advancements into prehospital clinical practice, especially when formal guidelines lag.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and evaluate recent high-impact publications relevant to EMS clinical care and operations.
• To create a prioritized reading list of EMS research by gathering recommendations and ratings from key stakeholders and experts.
• To address the need for a clear, prioritized resource for EMS professionals to stay abreast of critical research.

Main Methods:

• An open call was issued for primary literature (excluding evidence-based guidelines) published between 2021-2023.
• Submissions were reviewed by an expert panel from the Prehospital Guidelines Consortium and member organizations.
• An asynchronous electronic survey was used for experts to rate the importance of each submission on a scale of 1-5.

Main Results:

• A total of 29 submissions were received, with 22 qualifying after exclusions (date range, duplicates, evidence-based guidelines).
• Nine EMS medicine experts rated the 22 submissions, with average importance scores ranging from 1.56 to 4.56.
• A natural inflection point at an average importance score of 3.56 identified 10 primary articles as highly rated.

Conclusions:

• Ten high-impact primary publications were identified for prioritization in EMS education.
• These selected articles will inform evidence-based out-of-hospital care.
• The findings aim to address existing gaps in prehospital evidence-based guidelines and enhance EMS practice.