About Yorkshire Ambulance Service Research and Development Team
YAS cover nearly 6,000 square miles of varied terrain, from isolated moors and dales to urban areas, coastline and inner cities. We serve a population of over 5.3 million people and employ more than 7,200 staff, 3,000 of which are frontline staff including paramedics, Technicians, Emergency Care Practitioners, Air Ambulance clinicians and a Hazardous Area Response Team, together with over 1,300 volunteers.
We receive an average of over 3,500 emergency and routine calls a day. In 2021-22 we responded to a total of 849,173 incidents through either a vehicle arriving on scene or by telephone advice. Clinicians based in our Clinical Hub, which operates within the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), triaged and helped around 90,700 callers with their healthcare needs.
Reporting to the Executive Medical Director, the research team comprises a Head of Research and Development, a Research and Development Manager, a Senior Research Fellow and an expanding team including Research Paramedics, a Paramedic Research Fellow, a Research Data Manager, a Research Co-Ordinator and Research Officer.
We work closely with academic and NHS partners to ensure that we undertake research that meets the needs of our population and YAS. YAS also supports staff to undertake MSc, doctoral and post-doctoral projects.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service is committed to improving services through evidence-based practice and welcomes contact about research.
For further information, please visit the YAS website.
Current research projects
- Paramedic analgesia comparing ketamine and morphine in trauma (PACKMaN)
- PRE-ALERTs – Exploring the use of pre-hospital pre-alerts and their impact on patients, Ambulance Service and Emergency Department staff
- STRATUS study – FreeSTyle LibRe and hospitAl admissions, morTality and qUality of life in high risk type 2 diabeteS patients
- SNAP – Supporting New Ambulance Paramedics: a prospective cohort study
- Should I stay or should I go? NHS staff retention in COVID-19.
- BeSure – A multi-package study, exploring the use of pre-hospital pre-alerts and their impact on patients, Ambulance Service and Emergency Department staff
- Pawamedics – Do Therapy dogs affect Ambulance staff Burnout?
- RADOSS – Risk of Adverse Outcomes after a Suspected Seizure
Recently Completed Research
- Major Trauma Triage Tools (MATTS)
- Community First Responders’ role in the current and future rural health and care workforce
- A mixed-methods study of female ambulance staff experiences of the menopause transition (CESSATION study)
- The Experiences of Thriving at Work in Paramedics
- Pre-Feed – Diary
- Clinical Decision Making in Older Adults with a Head Injury
Selected Recent Publications
- Pilbery, R; Young, T; Hodge, A. The effect of a specialist paramedic primary care rotation on appropriate non-conveyance decisions (SPRAINED) study: a controlled interrupted time series analysis. British Paramedic Journal, Volume 7, Number 1, 1 June 2022, pp. 9-18(10). https://doi.org/10.29045/14784726.2022.06.7.1.9
- Hutchinson, A., Allgar, V., Cohen, J., Currow, D. C., Griffin, S., Hart, S., Hird, K., Hodge, A., Mason, S., Northgraves, M., Reeve, J., Swan, F., & Johnson, M. J. (2022). Mixed-methods feasibility cluster randomised controlled trial of a paramedic-administered breathlessness management intervention for acute-on-chronic breathlessness (BREATHE): Study findings. ERJ Open Research. https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00257-2022
- Powell, C., Fylan, B., Lord, K., Bell, F., Breen, L. A qualitative analysis of stressors affecting 999 ambulance call handlers’ mental health and wellbeing. Emerald Insight, September 2022, 27(1) https://www.emerald.com/insight/2047-0894.htm
- Noble, A. J., Mason, S. M., Bonnett, L. J., Reuber, M., Wright, J., Pilbery, R., Jacques, R. M., Simpson, R. M., Campbell, R., Fuller, A., Marson, A. G., & Dickson, J. M. (2022). Supporting the ambulance service to safely convey fewer patients to hospital by developing a risk prediction tool: Risk of Adverse Outcomes after a Suspected Seizure (RADOSS)—protocol for the mixed-methods observational RADOSS project. BMJ Open, 12(11), e069156. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069156
- Kirby, K., Lazaroo, M., Green, J., Hall, H., Pilbery, R., Whitley, G. A., Voss, S., & Benger, J. (2023). The reality of advanced airway management during out of hospital cardiac arrest; why did paramedics deviate from their allocated airway management strategy during the AIRWAYS-2 randomised trial? Resuscitation Plus, 13, 100365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resplu.2023.100365
YAS research contact details
If you’re interested in doing research with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, please get in touch:
Dr Fiona Bell – fiona.bell7@nhs.net
Research Office – yas.research@nhs.net