Research

Raised levels of depression and PTSD in ambulance staff: causes and solutions

Despite the increased risk of developing mental health problems, a paucity in research on how vicarious trauma affects the prevalence of depression and PTSD in the ambulance service remains; further...

Effect of shift length on paramedic anxiety

The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a difference between anxiety experienced by paramedics who worked 12-hour shifts and those working 24-hour shifts. The mental health of EMS...

Demystifying prehospital research in practice

Chapter 1 provides an introduction that starts by defining (prehospital) research and justifying its importance. For example, it points out an 800% increase of prehospital research on the PubMed...

How paramedics apply the spinal immobilisation algorithm in trauma patients

This research was conducted as part of an MSc in advanced practice (prehospital care) at the University of Greenwich. It was a quantitative survey that used a convenience sample by approaching every...

Spotlight on Research

Many paramedics will have raised their eyebrows upon entering the scene of a cardiac arrest to find bystanders performing chest compressions while the patient is lying supine on a springy mattress....

Paramedic practice in low light conditions: a scoping review

Suggestions from the professional panel to improve driving were limited. The use of a dark mode to reduce the glare from the mobile data terminal was suggested as was using the low-power mode for blue...

Spotlight on Research

Internationally, demand for emergency medical services (EMS) has changed, with increased activity often driven by patients with non-urgent medical conditions and those not requiring medical...

Prevalence of stress disorders in frontline healthcare students

All six studies focused on prevalence, five were cross-sectional and one was exploratory, descriptive (Table 2)..

Spotlight on Research

HIV is a disease of major importance in the UK—and despite increased HIV testing and a move towards earlier initiation of antiretroviral therapy, a reduction in new cases each year proved hard to...

A mass distribution letter as an early intervention for potential frequent callers

This service evaluation was conducted using a pre-post design, for which ethical approval was not required. The data set was anonymised before review by the research team. Approval to access, analyse...

Paramedics’ perspectives of the community paramedic role in Ontario, Canada

There were 452 responses to the CP survey out of approximately 8000 paramedics in Ontario (Government of Ontario, 2017). Of the 387 respondents who provided their gender, 57.5% (n=260) were male. The...

Spotlight on Research

Current guidelines recommend that when right ventricular myocardial infarction (RVMI) is present, nitrates should not be administered. The advice is predicated upon the risk that decreasing preload in...