Demystifying prehospital research in practice

It is not every day you are asked to review a book written by esteemed colleagues and friends—but here I am. In this month's book review, I am reviewing Prehospital Research Methods and Practice, edited by Professor Niro Siriwardena and Dr Greg Whitley. The two editors are of course well-known experts in prehospital research, with the list of authors including paramedic researchers and experienced academics mainly from across the UK, but also including colleagues from Australia and the United States.

The book title may refer to ‘prehospital research’ but the preface rightly acknowledges that the book encompasses prehospital, ambulance, emergency medical services and urgent care research. The rationale for putting this book together was to ‘provide an accessible and up-to-date textbook broadly covering applied research methods’ in this setting—and the editors have definitely brought it all together to achieve that.

If you are an undergraduate or postgraduate (paramedic) student undertaking research in this field, this book is certainly one to pick up. It provides much more than a brief introduction, touching on really complicated issues within prehospital research and wtaking deep dives into many of these. Key research approaches are clearly explained and illustrative examples are provided throughout.