Case study: A varied but vital role - Chrissy's story

Chrissy Evans, a Research Paramedic with  West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust (WMAS) has been involved in research for two of her six years with the Trust.

She first became interested in research when she took part in the PRESTO study in 2019, which investigated point-of-care testing by paramedics for patients with chest pain

She said: “By running a variety of different research studies in the pre-hospital setting, we can contribute to the growing evidence base in this area, which is so important for the continuing development of emergency care.”

Chrissy, aged 34, is based in Warwickshire and is currently working on the SPEEDY  stroke trial and the PARAMEDIC- 3 resuscitation trial along with her colleagues from around the region.

She adds: “It can be quite challenging to run studies in an emergency environment, as often patients are in need of time-critical treatment and the extra step of enrolling them to the trial can be hard to remember in the heat of the moment. 

“In addition, patients may be too unwell to give consent to taking part in research at the time, so sometimes we need to approach them for consent after their emergency treatment.”

Chrissy enjoys how varied the role is - on different days, she can be delivering training, visiting patients to get their consent to participate in research, or to follow them up, and collecting and analysing data.

“Our roles as Research Paramedics help the whole service to ensure we are delivering the best care, which is why we do what we do. I would definitely encourage anyone interested in research to  reach out to the team.”

Interested in signing up to research?  Find out more at the Be Part of Research website.  

Find information on research at the Trust.