Use of a limited lights and siren protocol in the prehospital setting vs standard usage.

Objective: Our objective was to determine if implementing a standard lights and sirens (L&S) protocol would reduce their use and if this had any effect on patient disposition.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study, we trained emergency medical services (EMS) personnel from 4 towns in an L&S protocol and enrolled control personnel from 4 addition towns that were not using the protocol. We compare the use of L&S between them over a 6-month period.

Disposable stainless steel vs plastic laryngoscope blades among paramedics.

Background: Several studies have been published in the literature about intubation methods, but little is available on intubation equipment used in this setting. This is the first prehospital comparison of disposable plastic vs disposable stainless steel laryngoscope blades used by paramedics.

Study Objective: The objective of this study was to compare prehospital intubation success rates on first attempt and overall number of attempts to obtain intubations using disposable plastic laryngoscopes blades vs disposable stainless steel laryngoscope blades.