Lights and sirens are woven into the identity of EMS. They signal urgency, clear traffic, and often feel synonymous with saving lives. But how much time are we actually gaining, and is the benefit worth the risk? In this month’s journal club, we examine a large observational study that used modern transportation modeling and more than 25,000 ambulance transports to estimate the true impact of emergent driving during patient transport. The findings challenge long-held assumptions and raise important questions about safety, culture, policy, and clinical decision-making in EMS.

Listen as we unpack the evidence behind lights and sirens use, explore the balance between urgency and risk, and discuss what this means for providers, patients, and EMS systems moving forward.

Article: The Estimated Benefit of Lights and Sirens During Ambulance Transport https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10903127.2026.2659958

Can ChatGPT deliver meaningful feedback that rivals an experienced educator? Join us as we examine new research comparing AI-generated and faculty feedback in medical education, explore what students valued most, and discuss what these findings could mean for paramedic educators navigating the future of teaching, assessment, and learner support.

Article: Bytes versus brains: A comparative study of AI-generated feedback and human tutor feedback in medical education

In this episode, we take on one of the most challenging questions in prehospital care: how do we know when a child is truly critically ill? Pediatric patients don’t always present as we expect, and in the field, we often make high-stakes decisions with limited information and infrequent experience.

This month’s journal club explores a qualitative study that brings together perspectives from paramedics and physicians to better understand how pediatric critical illness is recognized across settings. From vital signs and interventions to clinical intuition and system limitations, this conversation uncovers the gaps between how we think we assess kids and how it actually happens in practice.

Join us as we unpack the realities of pediatric assessment, the limitations of current tools, and what it might take to build a better, more consistent approach to recognizing sick kids in EMS.

Article: Prehospital and Emergency Care Perspectives to Define Pediatric Critical Illness and Injury. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12815507/

How do we prepare paramedic students for the moments when resuscitation ends and grief begins? This journal club explores innovative approaches to teaching death, dying, bereavement care, and difficult conversations in paramedic education — and what students say they still need to feel prepared for practice.

Article: Preparing for death, dying and bereavement care: student paramedic perspectives on a novel learning module

In this episode, we explore one of the most talked-about shifts in trauma care: the return of whole blood in prehospital resuscitation. Is it truly a game changer, or simply a more streamlined way to deliver the same care? In this month’s journal club, we break down a large, multicenter randomized trial examining prehospital whole blood transfusion versus traditional component therapy in patients with life-threatening traumatic hemorrhage. With growing adoption of whole blood programs across EMS systems, this study challenges us to think critically about what we carry, how we deliver care, and what actually impacts outcomes when minutes matter most. Join us for our upcoming Prehospital Care Research Forum Journal Club as we unpack the evidence, the logistics, and the real-world implications for trauma care in the field.

Article: Prehospital Whole Blood in Traumatic Hemorrhage — a Randomized Controlled Trial

LIVE from ACCREDITCON in New Orleans! When clinical sites are scarce, simulation steps in—but what does that mean for paramedic education? This episode dives into national accreditation data to examine the prevalence of simulation substitution for core clinical skills and its relationship to program performance. We unpack the methodology, assumptions, and implications for educators and learners alike.

Article: Prevalence and Impact of Simulation Substitution on Paramedic Educational Program Success: A National Examination

In this episode, we take on a simple but important question in modern resuscitation: when machines take over CPR, does the type of device actually matter? Mechanical CPR use continues to grow across EMS systems, but not all devices are built the same. In this month’s journal club, we unpack a large retrospective study of more than 38,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients comparing plunger-type and band-type mechanical CPR devices. Does one design actually lead to better outcomes, or are we just splitting hairs between two versions of the same tool? Join us for our upcoming Prehospital Care Research Forum Journal Club as we dig into the data, the design differences, and what this means for equipment decisions, training, and high-performance CPR in the field.

Article: A Retrospective Comparison of Plunger-Type and Band-Type Mechanical Chest Compression Devices for Prehospital Resuscitation

Paramedic students don't just practice clinical skills during their clinical rotations—they are often present for emotionally intense, high-stakes moments in patient care. This journal club explores a qualitative study examining how students experience and make sense of these events, their emotional responses, and the ways they cope. Join us to reflect on what this means for EMS education and student support.

Article: Student post-traumatic stress after clinical placement

In this month’s clinical journal club, we take a deeper look at one of the most talked-about innovations in resuscitation: extracorporeal CPR (eCPR). But instead of focusing on the patients who receive it, this study asks a different and important question: what happens to everyone else? Using data from over 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients in Los Angeles County, researchers examined whether implementing an eCPR pilot program changed outcomes for patients who never received eCPR at all.

We unpack the findings' implications for training, system design, and the potential ripple effects of high-performance resuscitation programs. Does introducing advanced care elevate the entire system, or risk shifting focus away from core fundamentals? Join us for a thoughtful conversation on how innovation, education, and implementation strategy can shape outcomes far beyond the patients we intend to treat.

Article: Impact of an eCPR Pilot Program on Outcomes After Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest for Patients Who Do Not Receive eCPR in a Large, Urban EMS System

Emergency cricothyrotomy is a rare but life-saving procedure in the “can’t intubate, can’t oxygenate” patient. In this session, we’ll review a study that examines the use of simulation-based mastery learning to train emergency medicine residents in this high-stakes skill. Join us as we discuss how simulation, competency standards, and deliberate practice might shape training for one of the most critical procedures in airway management.

Article: Simulation-­ Based Mastery Learning Improves Emergency Medicine Residents' Ability to Perform Emergency Cricothyrotomy https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aet2.70124