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Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Trauma – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Trauma.

EMS Services in Rural America: Challenges and Opportunities
Policy brief describing challenges for rural EMS providers, including workforce shortages and inconsistent funding. Features statistics including percentage of potentially excess deaths for 5 leading causes of death, with breakdowns by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, and average EMS call time response and distribution of all-volunteer and all-paid staff EMS agencies, with breakdowns by 4 levels of population density. Discusses effects of the opioid crisis and Critical Access Hospital closures on provision of EMS services.
Author(s): Nikki King, Marcus Pigman, Sarah Huling, Brian Hanson
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Recruitment and Retention: Overcoming the Rural EMS Dilemma
Reports on rural emergency medical services (EMS) workforce challenges and identifies innovative approaches to meet these challenges, highlighting programs in several states. Includes a list of 4 EMS recruitment and retention tactics for rural communities.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 02/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Unintentional Firearm Injuries Remain Prevalent Over a 12 Year Experience at a Rural Midwestern Level 1 Trauma Center
Examines the variety of firearm injuries seen at a rural Iowa level 1 trauma center to provide an awareness of the prevalence, mechanism used in the injury, and variation in seasonal occurrence. Data identifying patients with a firearm injury was obtained from a trauma registry for the years 2002 to 2014. Goal was to distinguish the characteristics of preventable firearm injuries in rural environments to improve firearm education and influence public policy.
Author(s): Brian Guetschow, Michele Lilienthal, Michael Willey
Citation: Iowa Orthopaedic Journal, 38, 45-52
Date: 2018
Type: Document
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Trends in Emergency Department Visits, 2006–2014
Presents information on emergency department (ED) visits and trends in the U.S. between 2006 and 2014 based on data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). Covers ED visit frequency by age, sex, metro/nonmetro location, primary payer type, region, diagnosis, and several other indicators.
Author(s): Brian J. Moore, Carol Stocks, Pamela L. Owens
Date: 09/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Disparities in Access to Trauma Care in the United States: A Population-Based Analysis
Describes the geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic disparities in access to trauma care in the U.S., including a rural and urban analysis of disparities. Covers data detailing demographic characteristics stratified by trauma center access by income, poverty, insurance status, education, race/ethnicity, rurality, and more.
Author(s): Brendan Carr, Ariel Bowman, Catherine Wolff, et al.
Citation: Injury, 48(2), 332-338
Date: 02/2017
Type: Document
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Antifibrinolytics in a Rural Trauma State: Assessing the Opportunities
Retrospective review evaluating the use of tranexamic acid (TXA) at a level 1 trauma center located in a rural area as a treatment to improve mortality and prevent hemorrhagic death in trauma patients. Documents the number of rural trauma patients who met the criteria for receiving TXA treatment, and determines if patients experiencing longer transport times and/or transfers from other hospitals such as Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) would be regarded as ineligible for effective TXA treatment.
Author(s): James M Bardes, Amanda Palmer, Jorge Con, Alison Wilson, Gregory Schaefer
Citation: Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open, 2(1)
Date: 2017
Type: Document
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Rural Risk: Geographic Disparities in Trauma Mortality
Examines injury mortality between rural and urban residents with traumatic injuries using data from the 2009 to 2010 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample study. Includes rural and urban statistics by age group, mortality, trauma designation, census region, and other variables.
Author(s): Molly P. Jarman, Renan C. Castillo, Anthony R. Carlini, Lisa M. Kodadek, Adil H. Haider
Citation: Surgery, 160(6), 1551-1559
Date: 12/2016
Type: Document
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EMS Leaders Speak
Five experts discuss emergency medical services in a changing rural healthcare delivery system. Topics addressed include EMS challenges and potential opportunities, such as community paramedicine and telehealth.
Author(s): Kevin McGinnis, Diane Calmus, Don Wood, Tom Nehring, Gary Wingrove
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 09/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Alternative Models to Preserving Access to Emergency Care
Explores proposals for maintaining timely access to emergency and other basic healthcare services in rural communities that may not be able to support a full-service hospital, including frontier extended stay clinics and free-standing emergency departments. Identifies models of care and various ideologies for the Secretary and the Department of Health and Human Services to consider when evaluating policy options.
Date: 07/2016
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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National Characteristics of Emergency Medical Services in Frontier and Remote Areas
Outlines national characteristics for emergency medical services in frontier and remote (FAR) areas. Includes patient demographics, provider clinical impression and injuries, and procedures performed in FAR and non-FAR patients.
Author(s): Landon R. Mueller, John P. Donnelly, Karen E. Jacobson, et al.
Citation: Prehospital Emergency Care, 20(2), 191-199
Date: 2016
Type: Document
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Last Updated: 4/22/2024