Paramedic research, 16 August 2026

4 new paramedic and prehospital papers from the 16 August 2026 scan.

Prehospital NEWS beats shock index in trauma

Injury · Systematic review · Supports current practice

Systematic review of 22 studies (184 to 1.4M patients) found prehospital NEWS showed excellent discrimination for short-term mortality (AUROC 0.87-0.96) and reliably predicted transfusion needs, outperforming Shock Index.
Prehospital whole blood improves shock physiology

Journal of Surgical Research · Systematic review · Hypothesis-generating

Systematic review of 13 studies found prehospital whole blood consistently improved shock physiology (greater SI reduction, higher shock reversal rates) and showed potential survival benefit in high-risk and penetrating trauma patients, though overall mortality benefit was not uniform.
Predictors of hyperoxaemia after prehospital oxygen

The American Journal of Emergency Medicine · Cohort · Hypothesis-generating

Prospective cohort of 245 patients found 24.5% had hyperoxemia (PaO₂ >120 mmHg), with intubation (OR 38.89) and transport duration ≥24 min (OR 13.74) as independent predictors.
New Penang OHCA registry shows low survival

Resuscitation Plus · Registry · Context only

Descriptive analysis of 5,087 OHCA cases showed 16.3% received EMS resuscitation attempts, with only 1.3% 30-day survival despite bystander CPR in 43.5% of cases, and AED deployment in only 7.1%.