Improving Trauma Care Worldwide

NASEMSO, NAEMSP and ACEP to Develop Pre-Hospital Pain Management Evidence-Based Guideline

The National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO), in collaboration with the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), is leading a project to develop an evidence-based guideline (EBG) for the pharmacologic management of acute pain in the prehospital setting. One of the most frequent conditions encountered by EMS professionals in the field is pain. While appropriate use of controlled substances is within the standard of care for treating pain in the prehospital setting, the opioid crisis currently facing the nation has fueled an urgent need to develop evidence-based recommendations on the prehospital use of analgesics.

The principal investigator is George Lindbeck, MD, from NASEMSO; co-investigators are Sabina Braithwaite, MD, representing ACEP, and Harry Sibold, MD, of NAEMSP. They will lead a multi-disciplinary technical expert panel comprised of an EMS clinician and EMS educator, as well as persons with expertise in emergency medicine, pediatrics, pain management, pharmacology, trauma care, guideline development methodology, patient advocacy, EMS data. The 18-month project will produce the following deliverables:

1. Manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, describing the methodology used to develop the evidence-based guideline;
2. Model EMS treatment protocol on the pharmacologic management of pain based on the evidence-based guideline;
3. Performance measures for evaluating adherence to the evidence-based guideline and clinical outcomes;
4. Educational materials for training EMS professionals on the pain management evidence-based guideline.

The project is funded through support from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Office of EMS, and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s EMS for Children Program, as well as in-kind support from NASEMSO, NAEMSP and ACEP.

The National Association of State EMS Officials is a leading national organization for EMS, a respected voice for national EMS policy with comprehensive concern and commitment for the development of effective, integrated, community-based, universal and consistent EMS systems. Its members are the leaders of their state and territory EMS systems.