The Background of this Research Design

Prehospital Providers seeks to provide research methods to help the prehospital community identify problems and take action to fix them.

Defining common problems - In defining problematic trends, it is important that they be articulated by those closest to the problems. In this case the prehospital community should collectively decide these trends and find solutions according to collective wisdom. Prehospital Providers aims to facilitate this type of collaboration.

Unique problems - All issues that affect the wellbeing of the prehospital care provider or patient are important, however, in this research project we will be addressing widespread problems. If you have an issue that needs to be addressed in your specific system we DO seek to help you in any way we can. We continue to add resources and tools to our website and Community to aid in improvement efforts. We invite you participate, suggest helpful tools and share your lessons learned by contacting us.

Plan of Action

Prehospital Providers has outlined the following plan of action. Note that these steps may often occur simultaneously,and that actions will be implemented through all processes.


Organizing and Initiating Dialogue

This is perhaps the most difficult and time consuming step in our plan of action. During this period we will have to overcome significant obstacles including:

  1. Outreach in spite of existing communication barriers from system to system
  2. Defeatism, or fatalistic resignation, that exists in the minds of prehospital providers

During this period, members who have joined this research project can participate in ongoing dialogue to accomplish the following tasks:

  1. Assess how motivated it's members are to take action
  2. Bring forth potential project leadership
  3. Find resources that exist within the EMS community

Analyzing the Extent of the Problem

We will informally define underlying problems by sending out "pre-data" surveys. With these surveys we will initiate more specific dialogue as we seek to understand:

  1. The magnitude and depth of our problems
  2. The contours of the problem
  3. How patient care is affected in the community
  4. How prehospital care providers are affected

We will also assess what education should be provided to members of the community, such as public speaking skills, political design or other related skills that will help us become more savvy as we navigate through this grassroots project.

Designing Research Methods

During the initial outreach phase we will seek individuals interested in designing research methods for this project. Once this team is assembled we will provide a list of reading material that addresses valid and effective research methods. Members of the design team will be required to choose study materials from that list and implement this knowledge in their research design. During the design of research methods, this team will also be responsible for the documentation of progress and process (perhaps in the form of an online group document). It is our hope that by using this method the "capacity to investigate community problems scientifically becomes a permanent feature of the community that can be used over and over again."

If you are interested in being a member of this team please contact us and describe your experience, system and region, or send us a resume. We are looking for perspectives from varied backgrounds and system types to create a diverse team. We project that this team will have 5-7 members but may change according to our representation needs or your suggestions.



The Ongoing Steps- Gathering Data, Analyzing Data and Mobilizing

After we have collected our data, research results will be presented to the community site where dialogue will resume. We will discuss the outcome of our data and project our needed actions in a future community group (T.B.A.). At this stage we hope to have participation from many community members. The information taken from the community will then be brought to a leadership group. This leadership group will be responsible for drawing inferences from the data and community dialogue to outline further actions.
While this leadership group will not be formed in the next few months, we are currently seeking potential community leadership in all aspects of this grassroots movement. If you are interested in becoming involved, please contact us.

Reporting of data will also take place during this phase



Our Fundamental Goal

We hope to be developing and honing permanent skills as a response community: skills of change that we will be required to exercise frequently in the near and far future as we seek self-regulation, unity and the ability to serve our communities effectively. This is the underlying channel through which progress will take place and remain permanent in our profession.



REGISTER


References:

Park, Peter, Brydon-Miller Mary, Hall Budd and Jackson Ted. Voices of Change. Westport: Bergin & Garvey, 1993.

Stringer, Ernest. Action Research, A Handbook for Practitioners.Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1996.