The Past, Present and Future of our Emergency Medical Services: Consultation on the Implementation of a National Research Strategy for Paramedicine in Ireland

The Past, Present and Future of our Emergency Medical Services: Consultation on the Implementation of a National Research Strategy for Paramedicine in Ireland Context: Pre-hospital care traditionally refers to emergency medical care administered to ill or injured patients by paramedics, prior to transportation by ambulance to a medical facility. Internationally, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) have evolved to treat and referral models and paramedicine is moving towards a future of mobile integrated healthcare. Paramedics increasingly play an important role in Public Health, operating on the frontline in the emergency response to COVID-19 while also being uniquely positioned to provide sustainable, patient-centred care in the community to an aging population. Why is it important? Increased research capacity and activity in healthcare leads to improved outcomes for patients. However, the out-of-hospital setting is a particularly challenging environment for research and paramedicine research, particularly knowledge translation, remains under-developed. A strategic and collaborative approach to research is essential to accommodate the complex and multi-disciplinary nature of out-of-hospital care and to identify research priorities into the future. Purpose of the Event: In January 2022, the Pre-hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) commissioned a team of academic and clinical researchers from the Irish Paramedicine Education and Research Network (IPERN), UL, UCC, UCD and RCSI in collaboration with international partners, Monash University, to draft a new national Research Strategy for Irish EMS. This workshop provides a forum for consultation with knowledge users on work to date which will inform the PHECC Research Committee prior to publication of the final Research Strategy in late 2022. Target Audience: The statutory regulator, service providers, academic institutions, clinicians practising in the out-of-hospital setting, first responders, patient representatives and other relevant stakeholders. Dissemination of Event Outcomes: Our Steering Group has representatives from across academic and clinical settings including PHECC, the statutory ambulance services and University sector. The key outputs of the workshop will be disseminated through leveraging the existing media channels of these partners for public engagement.