Brainstorming EMS Paper Topics

[AnthonyM83]

Was wondering if I could get some help brainstorming some ideas for a paper topic.

It can be pretty much any topic to research that applies to prehospital care, for school.

Ideas I've had are:

Inducing Hypothermia

Ultrasound in the field

Pain management methods

Newest CPR studies

I feel like all of those have been done...and our instructor reads about 120 papers a year, so I'd like to do a topic he hasn't seen 5 times already.

Throw out any ideas, any at all...

[tskstorm]

Paramedic level class?

If it is, how about something involving right sided MI's or 15 lead EKG's ?

[Urbanmedic461]

Prehospital treatment of CHF.

Including:

-the use (or lack of) portable Bipap units

-Sublingual administration of Captopril or other ACE inhibitors vs. administration of nitrates and Lasix

-Combinations of available treatments that won't buy someone an ICU bed

[BEorP]

Can you offer any more specifics on the assignment? How many words are we looking at? Do you need to have scholarly references? Is this for a college-level class? (sorry, I don't remember where you're doing your paramedic classes)

Just to offer another suggestion, you could look at the evidence (or lack of evidence) to support the various drugs you will be administering as an EMT-P.

[crotchitymedic1986]

How about "Is ALS care worth the cost ?" When you factor the number of calls that actually require ALS care immediately in the field (you could argue that many chest pain patients would survive a quick BLS ride to the ER) you have to ask do we really need as many paramedics on fire engines and ambulances, as most services staff ? Then compare it to outcomes for prehospital arrest, which have not signifcantly improved, and you really have to ask would we be better off staffing 4 BLS ambulances as compared to 2 double medic ambulances (or one ambulance and ALS fire response vehicle).

[WelshMedic]

Treating and releasing in the field - a recipe for success or disaster?.

EMS and PCI, the battle against heart disease.

The Golden Hour and other myths in trauma care.

Slightly further outside the box:

Shift patterns in EMS and it's effect on patient care.

ALS vs BLS: does the medic really save more lives?

Intergrating EMS into the primary care system, flight of fancy or an acheivable goal?

That 's a couple of ideas off the top of my head.

WM

[Gypsy]

One I thought of off the top of my head: How to care for a patient with a history of spina bifida cystica (myelomeningocele). A note about this type- the patient can not be laid on their back in most cases because it will cause a seizure.

[spenac]

Shock as it is the area we in EMS can have the greatest effect on patient outcome. Break down the many types of shock, what s/s you expect with each, how they progress if untreated down to various organs and cells, and then describe methods of treatments for each type. Not only will you be better from doing the research your patients will benefit as well.

[ERDoc]

Pediatric medication dosing errors

[mobey]

So far I have wrote one on SARS and one on Pathophysiology and treatment in cardiovascular disease.

To be totally off the wall you could write one on, "Paramedics writing research papers as part of thier didactic component"

The thing is.... if you pick a really current subject (CPAP on ambulances) you may not find much info, and if you do, they may all stem from 1 or 2 references.

When I write my papers, I like to reference at least 3 peer-reviewed journals, about 10 "other" credible sources, and one expert opinion. You can see how that could be really hard with something as new as induced hypothermia in a prehospital setting.

One I have always wanted to write is "our nations preparedness for another pandemic"

After doing mine on SARS, it is pretty scary at how unprepared we are for another "Spanish flu" type pandemic.

But hey.... there's always these