Paramedic PapersHome Daily scans 25 October 2026
Daily scan
Paramedic research, 25 October 2026
11 new paramedic and prehospital papers from the 25 October 2026 scan.
Listen to the 25 October 2026 podcast episode
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Hot nights linked to more OHCA
A nationwide time-stratified case-crossover study of 135,898 emergency hospitalisations for OHCA in Japan found hot nights (minimum temperature above the regional 92.5th percentile) were associated with a 9% higher OHCA hospitalisation risk, with the highest risks in people aged 75+ and women in northern regions.
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ECPR for OHCA: pump the brakes
A Prehospital Emergency Care commentary reviewing the ARREST, INCEPTION and Prague OHCA trials argues the ECPR evidence is not strong enough for widespread prehospital adoption, because any benefit cannot be separated from the effect of the intra-arrest transport ECPR programs require.
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How ambulance models shape end-of-life care
Case studies of three English ambulance services found paramedics deliver end-of-life care with learning on the job and patchy access to patient records, anticipatory medicines and palliative advice, with more innovative models (advanced-paramedic anticipatory medicines, an in-service palliative team and palliative care ambulances) improving resources.
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Scene-to-door time and stroke thrombectomy
A single-centre Japanese cohort of 121 stroke thrombectomy patients transported directly from scene found scene-to-door time was only associated with outcome in patients with pre-stroke disability, where longer intervals were linked to lower odds of a favourable 90-day outcome (aOR 0.91; ROC cut-off 14 minutes in that subgroup).
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Kratom derivative withdrawal treated prehospital
A US case series describes community paramedics treating severe withdrawal from concentrated kratom derivatives (7-hydroxymitragynine and MGM-15) with full-dose buprenorphine and rapid linkage to outpatient medication for opioid use disorder, with both patients retained in treatment at 30 days.
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HEMS burnout high even without PTSD
A nationwide survey of Danish HEMS personnel (73 of 82 responding) found no participant met criteria for PTSD, anxiety, depression or secondary traumatic stress despite high trauma exposure — but 48.6% exceeded the personal burnout cutoff and 23.2% the work-related burnout cutoff.
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Neonatal calls rare on South African ambulances
A two-year review of 9,825 neonatal activations in the Western Cape public EMS found neonates were just 0.7% of workload with rare high-risk interventions (prehospital intubation 0.4%), and non-specialist crews attended two-thirds of high-acuity cases despite limited neonatal scope of practice.
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Paramedics under-document neuro change over time
A survey of 348 Polish paramedics found moderate self-reported neurological documentation completeness (mean 24.57 of a possible 35), worst for documenting temporal neurological change (only 9.2% consistent), with higher scores in those with neurological training or more experience.
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Eye-tracking shows how experience guides ambulance care
Wearable eye-tracking on nine Japanese flight nurses across 60 real ambulance cases found gaze behaviour during initial prehospital care differed significantly by experience level, with distinct fixation patterns between novice, intermediate and expert groups.
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Why rural stroke care lags: system drivers
A qualitative study of 11 stakeholders in coastal eastern England found rural and coastal distance becomes inequity-producing when combined with limited mobility, complex extrication and Category 2 demand, shaping delays in stroke recognition, pre-alerting and transfer to stroke-capable care.
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Clearer AED voice prompts fix lay-user errors
A simulated cardiac arrest assessment of 81 final-year Spanish dental students found fewer than 10% correctly performed 8 of 10 AED steps with standard voice prompts (median time to shock 143 s), and a modified set of instructions significantly improved key actions.