Paramedic techniques to help children breathe before they reach the hospital
2/2: Pediatric Prehospital Airway Resuscitation Trial (Pedi-PART)
This project compares three common ways paramedics help children breathe—bag-mask ventilation, placing a breathing tube, or using a supraglottic airway—for kids with cardiac arrest, trauma, or severe breathing problems.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Salt Lake City, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11174511 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If a child is critically ill or injured and needs help breathing before reaching the hospital, paramedics will use one of three airway methods while data are collected about what happens. The study uses a smart, adaptive design that learns as it goes so fewer children are needed to find the best approaches across different conditions and ages. Participating emergency medical services and hospitals will follow a common protocol and send clinical data to a central biostatistics and logistics team. The team will analyze results across subgroups such as cardiac arrest, trauma, and respiratory failure to identify which airway technique works best for different situations.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Children who are critically ill or injured in the prehospital setting and require emergency airway management for cardiac arrest, major trauma, or severe respiratory failure are the ideal candidates.
Not a fit: Children who do not require emergency airway interventions, adults, or patients excluded by the trial protocol are unlikely to benefit directly from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could lead to clearer guidance for paramedics and better survival and outcomes for children who need emergency airway care before reaching hospital.
How similar studies have performed: While some adult and in-hospital studies have compared airway methods, randomized data for pediatric prehospital airway care are limited and this adaptive platform approach is novel.
Where this research is happening
Salt Lake City, United States
- Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah — Salt Lake City, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Vanburen, John — Utah State Higher Education System--University of Utah
- Study coordinator: Vanburen, John
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.