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Daily scan
Paramedic research, 13 October 2026
9 new paramedic and prehospital papers from the 13 October 2026 scan.
Listen to the 13 October 2026 podcast episode
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Lactate drives prehospital mSOFA risk
Prospective Spanish multicentre study of 12,212 high-priority patients deconstructed the prehospital mSOFA score with a decision tree, finding lactate ≥3.8 mmol/L was the primary discriminator for 2-day in-hospital mortality, ahead of SaFi, GCS and creatinine.
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Who calls an ambulance for low-acuity problems
Retrospective study of 41,761 low-acuity ED visits in the southeastern US found only 7.7% arrived by ambulance, with the highest odds among retired or disabled (aOR 3.60) and unemployed (aOR 2.26) patients and the lowest among those with an established GP (aOR 0.57).
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What makes an ambulance driver competent
Scoping review of 19 studies (2007–2026) mapped how ambulance-driver roles and competencies are conceptualised across EMS systems, identifying seven domains from technical driving through to work ability and fitness.
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Prehospital olanzapine for meth toxicity
Population-based Winnipeg cohort evaluating a 2018 policy letting paramedics give olanzapine for methamphetamine intoxication — treated patients were far more likely to be transported to ED (aOR 11.83) and seen by a doctor, and less likely to leave before being seen (aOR 0.56).
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Doppler beats pulse check after tourniquet
Randomised crossover study of 41 practising paramedics assessing distal circulation after tourniquet application found paramedic-performed Doppler ultrasonography beat pulse palpation on sensitivity (88.9% vs 66.7%) and accuracy (90.2% vs 78.0%) against an assessor-Doppler reference.
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Child visitor injuries in Queensland
Descriptive study of 3,802 Queensland Ambulance Service attendances for injuries in child visitors aged ≤15 (2009–18) found interstate visitors accounted for 85.8% of cases, with falls and transport incidents the leading mechanisms and burns third in 0–4-year-olds.
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Two paramedic attitudes to paediatric pain
Cross-sectional survey of 129 paramedics in a standardised Turkish EMS system used latent class analysis to identify two paediatric analgesia attitudinal profiles — proactive/system-oriented (57.4%) and conservative/low-engagement (42.6%) — unrelated to age, sex or experience.
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US prehospital buprenorphine growing fast
A national cross-sectional analysis of 167 million US EMS encounters found 2,180 prehospital buprenorphine administrations between 2020 and 2023, rising from 33 to 1,574 per year, with 80% of patients improving and only 16% of 911 cases transported.
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Camera-based breathing rate in moving ambulances
Japanese researchers built a contact-free respiratory-rate monitor using RGB and thermal cameras that worked inside a moving ambulance, with errors of 0.59–4.38 breaths/min depending on posture and respiratory pattern.