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If you’ve ever read a medical research study, even just the headline, this podcast is for you. If you’re an EMS educator leading the next generation of EMS providers to our field, this podcast is for you. If you’re a training officer or other EMS professional who presents to colleagues or medical directors, this podcast is for you. You don’t have to be a statistician to interpret all the studies. You don’t even have to be a statistician.
Tony Fernandez has been a nationally certified paramedic since 2005. Tony was the second individual to successfully complete the Emergency Medical Services Research fellowship offered by the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians. Upon completion of this program, Tony was a research assistant professor within the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
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Within the department, Tony was the director of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Research for the EMS Performance Improvement Center, which develops and maintains a comprehensive statewide EMS Data System for North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
In addition to serving as research director, his own research focuses on patient care in the prehospital environment, EMS occupational health and safety, disaster preparedness, and understanding the EMS workforce. In 2012, Tony was elected as a Fellow for the American Heart Association (AHA). Tony currently works as a research scientist at ESO.
Show Highlights
- “Magic bullet” of research
- No “silver bullet” for EMS research
- “Failure to control…” – Pepe
- Salient features of a study
- 0.05 and statistical significance
- Educated consumer of research
- Mortality odds ratio, and confidence interval
- Red flags of research
- LEAST interesting part of a study
- Read the methods section
- Steps for doing your own research
- Critically reviewing and interpreting research
- Cardiac arrest “silver bullet”
- Which is better? Statistical or clinical significance
- Limitations of EMS research
- Partnering with colleges and universities
