Fiona Togher, Viet-Hai Phung and Professor Niroshan Siriwardena from CaHRU recently attended the World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine which took place in Manchester on 28th to 31st May 2013. Together with Janette Turner from the University of Sheffield, the group gave three oral presentions on studies from Pre-hospital Outcomes for Evidence Based Evaluation (PhOEBE), a 5-year programme of work funded by the National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research.
Fiona Togher presented a qualitative study, ‘What do service users value about the emergency ambulance service?‘. Viet-Hai Phung presented a ‘Systematic review of pre-hospital outcomes for evidence-based evaluation of ambulance service care’. Finally Janette Turner presented, ‘What outcome measures should be developed for pre-hospital care? Results of a consensus event.’ All three studies sought to identify existing and new outcome (together with process and structural) measures for ambulance services. The presentations were well delivered and received and there were a number of constructive questions and comments from an international audience.
The day began with a keynote lecture entitled ‘A Brief History of Resuscitation’. from Professor Douglas Chamberlain, preeminent in and one of the founders of resuscitation medicine in the UK. Professor Chamberlain received the Peter Safar award for his international work in resuscitation. He was also one of the leaders in development of the paramedic role.