Essential Insights from Leading EMS Journals

Emergency Medicine EMS Environmental

Sauna to Ice-Bath – Prehospital Cold Water Immersion Protocol
April 9, 2026April 8, 2026

Spoon Feed —
Implementation of a prehospital cold water immersion (CWI) strategy in a large urban EMS system was effective in rapid cooling, with associated neurological improvement and high survival rates.

Source
Fighting Fire with Ice: A Multisite Collaboration to Evaluate the Impact of Prehospital Cold Water Immersion on Heat Stroke Patients. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2026 Mar 13:1-11. doi: 10.1080/10903127.2026.2636148. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41739962.

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Emergency Medicine EMS Hematology/Oncology Trauma

SWiFT RCT – Prehospital Whole Blood for Trauma
April 1, 2026April 4, 2026

Spoon Feed —
In cases of severe traumatic hemorrhage, prehospital whole blood (WB) transfusion did not outperform component therapy in reducing mortality or need for massive transfusion within 24 hours.

Source
Prehospital Whole Blood in Traumatic Hemorrhage – a Randomized Controlled Trial. N Engl J Med. 2026 Mar 17. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2516043. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41841706.

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Critical Care Emergency Medicine EMS Pediatric Emergency Trauma

Does Helicopter EMS Save More Lives in Trauma?
March 23, 2026March 28, 2026

Spoon Feed —
Trauma patients attended to by helicopter EMS (HEMS) survived more often than predicted by national risk models, with the greatest gains among moderately severe injuries. Prehospital emergency anaesthesia (PHEA—basically rapid sequence intubation) was independently associated with improved survival.

Source
Helicopter Emergency Medical Services attendance is associated with favourable survival outcomes in major trauma: derivation and internal validation of prediction models in a regional trauma system. Emerg Med J. 2026 Feb 3:emermed-2025-215451. doi: 10.1136/emermed-2025-215451. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41633812.

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Emergency Medicine EMS Orthopedics Pediatric Emergency Trauma

Do Prehospital Pelvic Binders Cause More Harm Than Good?
January 20, 2026January 24, 2026

Spoon Feed —
In the prehospital setting, universal application of pelvic circumferential compression devices (PCCDs) with suspected pelvic injuries could lead to adverse iatrogenic effects which are further compounded by improper diagnosis and thus misapplication, poor technique when deployed, and a false sense of security, which could lead to bias in recognizing other fatal causes of shock and bleeding.

Source
Prehospital Trauma Compendium: Evaluation and Management of Suspected Pelvis Fractures – An NAEMSP Position Statement and Resource Document. Prehosp Emerg Care. 2025 Aug 11:1-35. doi: 10.1080/10903127.2025.2540420. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40729523.

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Emergency Medicine EMS Resuscitation

How to Bag Better in OHCA
January 2, 2026January 3, 2026

Source
Manual bag-valve-mask ventilation during out-of-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a prospective observational study. Resuscitation. 2025 Nov 12;217:110895. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2025.110895. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41237844.

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Airway Emergency Medicine EMS

Prehospital Intubation Without Drugs? That’s Bad Chemistry
December 30, 2025January 3, 2026

Spoon Feed —
Similar to prior research on the topic, prehospital endotracheal intubation (ETI) is more successful with both sedative and paralytic than with no medications, paralytics alone, or sedative alone.

Source
The Association Between Out-of-Hospital Drug-Assisted Airway Management Approach and Intubation First-Pass Success. Ann Emerg Med. 2025 Nov;86(5):521-530. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2025.04.034. Epub 2025 Jun 4. PMID: 40464718.

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Cardiology Critical Care Emergency Medicine EMS Pediatric Emergency Resuscitation

Shockingly Sensible: New 2025 AHA Advanced Life Support
December 18, 2025December 18, 2025

Spoon Feed —
Building on 2020 guidelines, 2025 ALS refines cardioversion in atrial fibrillation (AF), vascular access, imaging, termination of resuscitation (TOR), and more, while also deemphasizing low-yield practices.

Source
Part 9: Adult Advanced Life Support: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation. 2025 Oct 21;152(16_suppl_2):S538-S577. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001376. Epub 2025 Oct 22. PMID: 41122884.

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Critical Care Emergency Medicine EMS Pediatric Emergency Resuscitation

New AHA BLS 2025 Updates
December 17, 2025December 22, 2025

Spoon Feed —
Basic Life Support (BLS) 2025 guidelines continue to emphasize the core principles of rapid recognition, 100-120/min compression, and early defibrillation. In addition, however, there are several important new AHA recommendations.

Source
Part 7: Adult Basic Life Support: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation. 2025 Oct 21;152(16_suppl_2):S448-S478. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001369. Epub 2025 Oct 22. PMID: 41122888.

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Critical Care Education Emergency Medicine EMS Health Policy Pediatric Emergency Resuscitation

Utstein to Uptake: Decoding 2025 AHA Guidelines
December 16, 2025December 22, 2025

Spoon Feed —
The 2025 executive summary shows new developments in the AHA guidelines, integrating science, systems, and education with a unified Chain of Survival across the entire cardiac arrest continuum so that communities can prioritize which changes matter most for their patients, from lay rescuer response through prehospital care to the ED and beyond.

Source
Part 1: Executive Summary: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation. 2025 Oct 21;152(16_suppl_2):S284-S312. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001372. Epub 2025 Oct 22. PMID: 41122893.

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Emergency Medicine EMS Neurology Stroke

What Are the Best LVO Stroke Predictors for EMS?
December 5, 2025December 6, 2025

Spoon Feed —
The prehospital screening tools for large vessel occlusion (LVO) with the best accuracy were: FAST-ED, RACE, and LAMS. Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS) was the worst.

Source
Accuracy of Published Screening Tools for Large Vessel Occlusion in Patients With Suspected Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Prospective Cohort Study. Ann Emerg Med. 2025 Sep 19:S0196-0644(25)01092-3. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2025.07.030. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40974366.

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