Paramedic PapersHome Daily scans 17 October 2026
Daily scan
Paramedic research, 17 October 2026
13 new paramedic and prehospital papers from the 17 October 2026 scan.
Listen to the 17 October 2026 podcast episode
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POC GFAP for brain haemorrhage in coma
A UK physician-paramedic HEMS team tested whether prehospital point-of-care GFAP and UCH-L1 blood tests could detect intracranial haemorrhage in comatose patients — GFAP performed strongly (97% sensitivity, AUC 0.94), UCH-L1 less so.
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Every minute counts: early bystander CPR
A time-to-event analysis of the All-Japan Utstein registry found overall bystander CPR rates stayed stable through the pandemic, but initiation within 10 minutes slipped — and earlier starts sharply improved neurological outcomes (aOR 3.27 for 0–3 min vs >10 min).
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Commotio cordis outcomes hinge on fast AED
A nationwide Japanese school-sports database reconstructed 30 sports-related OHCAs from external causes and found commotio cordis cases did dramatically better when AEDs were applied fast — 80% favourable neurological outcome — while other external causes fared poorly.
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Prehospital qSOFA adds a little prognostic signal
A Turkish retrospective cohort tested whether the prehospital qSOFA already recorded on the chart adds prognostic information for ambulance-transported suspected infection — it predicted 30-day mortality within every ED triage stratum but added almost nothing to a full arrival model (ΔAUC 0.007).
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Prehospital ACS risk stratification: the evidence
A narrative review of prehospital ACS risk stratification found HEART-derived pathways combined with point-of-care troponin carry the strongest evidence for safe field risk assessment, while AI-assisted ECG interpretation remains promising but prospectively unvalidated.
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Burnout linked to suicidal risk in EMS
A cross-sectional survey of 315 EMS professionals found burnout, anxiety and depression each tracked with higher suicidal risk, with elevated scores among respondents outside the male/female binary.
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TeamSTEPPS training shows no measurable gain
A Norwegian TeamSTEPPS programme for ambulance staff measured teamwork and safety-culture perceptions at baseline, 4 and 12 months — and found no statistically significant change in any dimension despite the structured training.
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Paramedics strained by end-of-life care gaps
A UK survey of 182 paramedics found end-of-life care in the community is undermined by practical gaps — 54% often had no access to the medicines they needed, 88% couldn't reach advance care planning documentation, and only 28% felt competent in the role.
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Most physician-unit dispatches are overtriage
A retrospective Austrian analysis of 3,454 dispatches of a physician-staffed response vehicle found 76% met retrospective overtriage criteria, and dispatch priority didn't predict appropriateness at all.
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Heel-of-foot compressions beat ball-of-foot
A manikin study of leg-delivered chest compressions found the heel-of-foot technique achieved deeper and more often guideline-adequate compressions than the ball of the foot, with foot orientation making no difference.
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Hypothermia common after unplanned out-of-hospital birth
A companion French registry analysis of 3,473 unplanned out-of-hospital births found maternal complications in 8.4% and perinatal complications in 4.4%, with preterm birth and neonatal hypothermia — which affected 63% of newborns — the main risk factors.
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Insomnia common in paramedic students
A cross-sectional study of 238 Saudi paramedic students found subthreshold insomnia on average (mean ISI 11.8), worse in single students and those at private universities or with chronic or mental illness.
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Ambulance demand peaks at 9pm
A two-year Turkish analysis of 60,811 EMS case records found demand peaked at 21:00 at 3.53 times the 06:00 trough, with circadian rhythmicity in all seven clinical groups and workable short-term demand forecasts.