Why EMS Research Matters
EMS is a relatively young medical discipline, and many of the protocols you follow are based on limited prehospital evidence. Participating in research, whether by staying current with the literature, joining a journal club, or enrolling your agency in clinical trials, strengthens the evidence base for prehospital care and improves outcomes for future patients.
Starting or Joining a Journal Club
A journal club is a regular meeting where EMS providers discuss recent research articles relevant to their practice. Starting one requires minimal resources:
- Choose a regular meeting schedule (monthly works well for most agencies)
- Rotate article selection responsibility among members
- Select articles that are relevant to your practice and accessible to all experience levels
- Use a structured critique format: study design, population, intervention, outcomes, limitations, and applicability to your practice
- Keep meetings focused (30 to 60 minutes) to encourage attendance
Key EMS Research Journals
Stay current by following these journals and resources:
- Prehospital Emergency Care: The official journal of NAEMSP, focused specifically on prehospital research
- Annals of Emergency Medicine: Broad emergency medicine research including prehospital studies
- Resuscitation: Focused on cardiac arrest and resuscitation science
- JEMS (Journal of Emergency Medical Services): Practical articles and case studies for EMS providers
- EMS World: Industry news and clinical education
Participating in EMS Research
EMS agencies can participate in research as study sites for clinical trials, data contributors to registries like CARES (Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival), and collaborators with academic institutions studying prehospital interventions. Even individual providers can contribute by maintaining complete and accurate documentation (which feeds into research databases), following study protocols when your agency participates in trials, and sharing clinical observations with your medical director.
Critical Appraisal Skills
When reading EMS research, ask these questions: What was the study design (RCT, cohort, case series)? Was the study population similar to your patient population? Were the results statistically and clinically significant? Could the results be explained by bias or confounding? And most importantly, should these findings change your practice? Not every published study should lead to a protocol change. Strong evidence from well-designed studies in relevant populations carries more weight than single-center case series or expert opinion pieces.