Embrace the evidence or not—a book for the masses

Evidence-based practice divides the (pre-hospital) nation. There are some paramedics who will run a mile at hearing this term and then there are those who embrace evidence all day long—this book is suitable for both of these extremes and for anyone in between.

The term evidenced-based practice (EBP) was first introduced in the field of medicine by Gordon Guyatt and his mentor David Sackett in the 1990s (Guyatt, 1991). Since then, the EBP movement has gained momentum and become increasingly important in paramedic practice.

This is undoubtedly associated with the broadening of the role of paramedics following professional registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), as well as paramedic training moving to higher education institutes. In light of these developments, paramedics have started challenging the traditional dogma of ‘this is how it has always been done’. In addition, the HCPC (2014) standards of proficiency for paramedics stipulate that paramedics must have the ability to engage in EBP and many undergraduate paramedic courses in the UK include an EBP module.