Paramedic Experiences and Perceptions of Training for Participation in Research: the PREPARE Study (PREPARE)

The investigators are currently conducting a research study, called PRESTO, in the pre-hospital environment where the investigators are asking paramedics to talk to patients about participating in the research study, interpret a heart tracing (or ECG), take a blood sample and record some study specific information. Apart from ECG interpretation, these are activities that the paramedics would not normally do and so the investigators had to provide training in order to ensure that these activities were carried out to the same standard across the four ambulance services that were involved, all of who have different working practices.

In order to do this, the investigators provided a training package based around four subject areas - blood sample collection, heart tracing interpretation, background to the study and the importance of conducting the study activities to a high standard (called Research Fundamentals). These were presented to the paramedics either as online training or in a face-to-face session. There has been a mixed response to both the uptake in training across the four ambulance services and the engagement from paramedics in following PRESTO with a potential participant.

As more research is being done in the pre-hospital environment the investigators feel that it would be beneficial to try to find out why paramedics may or may not have taken part in the PRESTO training. To do this the investigators will be sending out a survey to each of the four ambulance services which will contain questions around whether the paramedics thought the training package for PRESTO was suitable, whether the paramedics felt confident following PRESTO with a potential participant after the training and what the paramedics think the main barriers are to participating in research. Up to 30 paramedics will also be approached to participate in an interview, which will explore these ideas further.

This should allow the investigators to identify potential barriers that prevent paramedics from taking part in training for research studies. It should also allow the investigators to offer insight to future researchers about the type of training that should be provided for paramedics for a research study and how it should be delivered.

Study Overview

• Status: Withdrawn
• Conditions: Staff Attitude
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Survey; Other: Interview (optional)

• Study Type: Observational

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Manchester, United Kingdom, M13 WL
    • Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 100 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Staff employed by one of the four ambulance services that were involved in the PRESTO study Paramedics that either did or did not complete the PRESTO training package are eligible to take part as we would like to get opinions from both groups.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Staff that are employed by one of the four ambulance services involved in the PRESTO study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Staff that are not employed by one of the four ambulance services involved in the PRESTO study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Intervention / Treatment

Paramedics that were eligible to take part in the PRESTO study; Paramedics that are employed by one of the four Ambulance Services involved in the PRESTO study and were eligible to complete the training provided by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust to take part in the PRESTO study.

Other: Survey; Paramedics will complete a 5 minute survey that is asking for their opinions on why they did or did not take part in the PRESTO training package and also why they think paramedics might not engage with research training in general.; Other: Interview (optional); Paramedics will also be given the option to participate in a 1hr interview to explore the questions asked in the survey in more detail.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Paramedic views on research training via survey	Survey will be used to collect answers on paramedics' views of training for research studies	For the study duration, an average of 5 months
Paramedic views on research training via interview (optional)	Interview will be used to collect answers on paramedics' views of training for research studies	For the study duration, an average of 5 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 9, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 25, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): October 25, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 16, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 13, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): January 14, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 3, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 31, 2022
• Last Verified: October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: PRESTO study; Research training; Paramedics
• Other Study ID Numbers: B00686

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No