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Operations & systems
Bigger crews work faster, don't save more
Impact of the emergency medical services crew size (2 vs. ≥3 personnel) on prehospital performance and survival in severe trauma: a nationwide cohort study in Korea
Journal of Trauma and Injury · 2026-09-30 · Added 3 October 2026
Korean nationwide cohort of 78,203 severe trauma patients found crews of three or more achieved better prehospital IV access (aOR 1.47) and scene times ≤10 minutes (aOR 1.09) than two-person crews, with no survival difference after adjustment.
- Study type
- Registry
- Design
- Retrospective nationwide registry cohort
- Participants
- 78,203 adults with field-classified severe trauma
- Main finding
- ≥3-person crews: IV access in hypotensive patients aOR 1.47 (95% CI 1.31–1.66), scene time ≤10 min aOR 1.09, advanced airway borderline (aOR 1.13); survival to discharge unchanged after adjustment (aOR 1.00)
- Caveat
- Korean EMS staffing, transport distances and skill sets differ from Australian models, and residual confounding is likely
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). Two-person crews are the Australian norm and Korean EMS carries a different skill mix, but this is among the largest evidence yet on what a third crew member buys procedurally — without a survival gain.
Learning goal
Understand how crew staffing models shape prehospital trauma performance and survival outcomes in the Australian context.
More
- Topic: Operations & systems
- Daily scan: 3 October 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 3 October 2026
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