Research and Special Projects
The Centre for Paramedic Education and Research (CPER) is responsible for providing education, continuous quality improvement and medical delegation to approximately 1200 Paramedics. Since its conception, CPER has been committed to advancing the profession of Paramedics through pre-hospital research. The following are some of the research initiatives that we are currently involved in.
Stay tuned for more information on ongoing projects in Research.
PRIME Trial
The PRIME Trial (Prehospital Administration of IM Epinephrine in Pediatric Cardiac Arrest) is a study that will gather date over a 5 year period, looking at the effect of early administration of IM epinephrine in pediatric cardiac arrest patients.
In children who experienced OHCA, every minute of delayed epinephrine administration is associated with a decreased likelihood of survival to discharge and an increased likelihood of worse neurological outcomes in survivors. Additional studies have shown that a shorter time to administration of the first epinephrine dose is associated with higher survival. As IM epinephrine administration does not rely on vascular access, or the arrival of a first responder trained in starting IV or IO access, it could provide a more efficient and faster route for initial epinephrine administration.
IM epinephrine may provide a more efficient means of administering the initial epinephrine dose to a child experiencing OHCA with no greater risk of harm. In so doing, this may improve the short- and long-term outcomes of these patients. There is an abundance of literature detailing the risk/benefit profile of IM epinephrine use in anaphylaxis; however, there is no human data on this topic as it relates to cardiac arrest.