Index
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The Present State of EMS ResearchAppeals for AdvancementEMS research is still in an early stage of maturation. A concerted effort to improve the scant scientific knowledge that serves as the basis for EMS practice is now mandatory.1,52 There has been a strong plea for improving the science within the field.53 The leaders of the Future of Emergency Medicine Research conference, sponsored by the Emergency Medicine Foundation, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, and the Association for Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, emphasized the need for individual and program commitment to the process of advancing research in emergency medicine. The conference report called for the necessary resources to enhance emergency medicine research through training, academia, funding, national support, multi-center research and development of new outcome measures.54 The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine EMS Task Force published a paper in 1999 entitled EMS Systems: Foundations for the Future, which called for the specialty of emergency medicine to foster the continued development of EMS administration, education, and research.52 The report pointed out, �The benefits of prehospital care never have been demonstrated scientifically in many medical and surgical conditions. The time has come to prove the value of field care and determine the most cost-effective and medically sound treatments.�55 |