Paramedic attitudes and experiences of enrolling patients into the PARAMEDIC-2 adrenaline trial: a qualitative survey within the London Ambulance Service.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to gather the views and experiences of paramedics who participated in a large-scale randomised controlled drug trial and to identify barriers to recruitment.

DESIGN: We surveyed paramedics using a questionnaire consisting of a mix of closed and open ended questions.

SETTING: The study was conducted within the London Ambulance Service, London, UK.

PARTICIPANTS: 150 paramedics who were trained to enrol patients into the PARAMEDIC-2 randomised controlled trial of adrenaline versus placebo in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and who returned the questionnaire.

RESULTS: 98% of study participants felt prehospital research was very important, and 97.3% reported an overall positive experience of being involved in a drug trial. Only 5.3% felt uncomfortable enrolling patients into the trial without prior consent from the patient or a relative. Over one- third (39.3%) identified one or more barriers to patient recruitment, the most common being the attitudes of other staff.

CONCLUSION: We found a strong appetite for involvement in prehospital research among paramedics and an understanding of the importance of research that prevailed over the complexities of the trial. This is an important finding demonstrating that potentially ethically controversial research can be undertaken successfully by paramedics in the prehospital environment.