Education & Training
Technology and medical care are always evolving. We are innovators who find and create new opportunities to save lives. We pride ourselves on educating, consulting, and sharing our expertise with others who can benefit as we seek to shape the future of critical care.
Research
Research is fundamentally important to the STARS mission. Providing world class critical care requires employing best available clinical and aviation practice in all we do. STARS partners with local, national, and international researchers to identify and define best practices to support pre-hospital critical care.
Research Governance
The research committee supports and facilitates research at STARS, whilst also providing oversight to ensure adherence to ethical and regulatory guidelines. The STARS Research Committee is currently chaired by Dr. Doug Martin.
For more information
If you have any questions about research at STARS, or if you would like to partner with us on a project, you can reach us at researchcommittee@stars.ca.
Recent STARS-affiliated projects and publications
- Sperry JL., Guyette F., Cotton B., Luther J., Utarnachitt R., Kutcher M., Daley B., Peetz A., Patel, M., Goodman M., Claridge J., Patel N., Harbrecht B., Hashmi Z., Zarychanski R., Neal M., Yazer M., Gill G., Harner V., Meyer D., Latimer A., Robinson B., McKnight C., Hinckley W. Miller. K., Jansen J., Martin D., Fox E., Rosario-Rivera B., Wisniewski S. (2026) Prehospital Resuscitation with Type O Whole Blood for Trauma and Hemorrhage. The New England Journal of Medicine. May 18, 2026. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2602167 https://www.nejm.org/doi/abs/10.1056/NEJMoa2602167
- Ohanyan S, Sugars E, Carrasco Wall V, Halabi ML, Stang J, Holodinsky J, Bredenkamp A, Erfle S, Mann B, Vogelaar G, Montpetit J, MacKenzie M, Mahesh K, Jeerakathil T, Ganesh A, Demchuk A, Hill M, Buck B. Evaluating the Impact of a System-Wide Prehospital Teleconsultation on Rural Stroke Transportation Efficiency. (2026) Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1161/SVIN.125.002143
- Pretty S, O’Dochartaigh D, Cross E, Violato E, Zwicker J, Gauri A, Chen P, Cravetchi X, Widder S, Parker A, Aguilar LS, Douma MJ, Chang E. Prehospital Fibrinogen Levels in Major Trauma Patients Transported by Helicopter Emergency Medical Service: Determining Who Might Benefit. J Spec Oper Med. 2025 Dec 1;25(4):26 – 32. PMID: 41402981 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41402981/
- Young K, Koch H, O’Dochartaigh D, Douma M, Picard C, Vultaggio D, Violato E, MacKenzie M, Sevcik WB. A Randomized Crossover Simulation Study of Prolonged Conventional Versus Modified “Koch” Chest Compressions in a Height-Restricted Setting. Air Med J. 2025 Jul-Aug;44(4):269 – 277. PMID: 40571383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2025.03.004
- O’Dochartaigh D., Schrekinger E., Farnden G., Gogan J., Hudson, D. Determining What Proportion of Helicopter Emergency Medical Services – Transported Patients Are Urban Versus Rurally Based: A Retrospective 36-Year Geospatial Analysis of a Critical Care Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Organization’s Patient Transports (2024−10−31) doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2024.10.004
- Greene A, Trojanowski J, Shih AW, Evans R, Chang E, Nahirniak S, Pearson D, Prokopchuk-Gauk O, Martin D, Musuka C, Seidl C, Peddle M, Lin Y, Smith JA, MacDonald S, Richards L, Farrell M, Nolan B. A descriptive analysis of the Canadian prehospital and transport transfusion (CAN-PATT) network. Resusc Plus. 2023 Jan 11;13:100357. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resplu.2022.100357. PMID: 36691447; PMCID: PMC9860513.
- Newton G., Reay G., Laing C., King-Shier K. (2022). Clinical Characteristics of Patients Undergoing Needle Thoracostomy in a Canadian Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, Prehospital Emergency Care, 26:3, 400 – 405, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2021.1912226
- Mulvey J., Shaw B., Betzner M., Chang E., Wardle M., Lobay K., Bezanson J. (2022). Columbia Icefield Bus Rollover: A Case Study of Wilderness Mass Casualty Triage, Treatment, and Transport, Prehospital Emergency Care, 26:4, 608 – 616, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2021.1937412
- Eppich, W. J., Hart, D. & Huffman, J. L. (2021) Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Emergency Medicine. Compr Healthc Simul 33 – 46 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978 – 3‑030 – 57367-6_4 Google Scholar
- Newton G., Laing C., Reay G., King-Shier K. (2021) Thoracic Endotracheal Tube Insertion During Prehospital Thoracostomy: A Case Report. Air Medical Journal, VOLUME 40, ISSUE 3, P182-184, MAY 01. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2021.01.001
- Shaw B., Chang E., Betzner M. Mulvey, B. (2021) Physician-augmented pre-hospital care in the Canadian context: the Jasper bus crash mass casualty incident. Can J Emerg Med 23, 704 – 706. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43678-021 – 00139‑2
- Hampton L., Brindley P., Kirkpatrick A., McKee J., Regehr J., Martin D., LaPorta A., Park J., Vergis A., Gillman L.. (2020). Strategies to improve communication in telementoring in acute care coordination: a scoping review. Can J Surg. 2020 Nov 30;63(6):E569-E577. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cjs.015519. PMID: 33253511; PMCID: PMC7747840.
- Krook C., O’Dochartaigh D., Martin D., Piggott Z., Deedo R., Painter S., vanWerkhoven G., McKay D., Nesdoly D., Armstrong, J. (2020). Response to Letter: Damage control resuscitation initiated in the prehospital and transport setting: A systems approach to increasing access to blood transfusion. CJEM, 22(6), E12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2020.441
- Onotera K., Ryan S., Jelic J. (2020). The Effect of Point-of-Care Ultrasound on Helicopter EMS Scene Times. Annals of Emergency Medicine, RESEARCH FORUM ABSTRACT| VOLUME 76, ISSUE 4, SUPPLEMENT, S119, OCTOBER 01, 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annemergmed.2020.09.323
- Pompa N., Douma M., Jaggi P., Ryan R., MacKenzie M., O’Dochartaigh D. (2020). A Randomized Crossover Trial of Conventional versus Modified “Koch” Chest Compressions in a Height-Restricted Aeromedical Helicopter, Prehospital Emergency Care, 24:5, 704 – 711, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2019.1695300
- Powell, D., & McCallum, A. (2020). Canadian Transport Medicine: Waypoints and Destinations. Canadian Journal of Emergency Medicine, 22(S2), S1-S3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2020.451
- Sedlakova A, Olszynski P, Davis P, Froh J. Prehospital ultrasound use among Canadian aeromedical service providers – A cross-sectional survey. CJEM. 2020 May;22(3):338 – 341. PMID: 31813395. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2019.451
- Koll J., Martin D., Hansen G. (2019). An affordable smart phone communication system from highway to helipad: a case series. Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine 2019;8(1):53 – 60. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7309/jmtm.8.1.7
- Krook C., O’Dochartaigh D., Martin D., Piggott Z., Deedo R., Painter S., vanWerkhoven G., McKay D., Nesdoly D., Armstrong J. (2019). Blood on board: The development of a prehospital blood transfusion program in a Canadian helicopter emergency medical service. CJEM, 21(3), 365 – 373. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cem.2018.457
- Hansen G., McDonald P., Martin D., Vallance J. (2018). Pre-Trauma Center Management of Intracranial Pressure in Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury. Pediatr Emerg Care. 2018 May;34(5):330 – 333. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/PEC.0000000000000758. PMID: 27261957.
- Harenberg S., McCarron M., Carleton N., O’Malley T., Ross T. (2018). Experiences of Trauma in Canadian Helicopter Emergency Medical Service Personnel. Journal of CSWB. Oct;3(2):18 – 21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.35502/jcswb.62
- O’Dochartaigh D., Douma M., MacKenzie M. (2017). Five-year Retrospective Review of Physician and Non-physician Performed Ultrasound in a Canadian Critical Care Helicopter Emergency Medical Service, Prehospital Emergency Care, 21:1, 24 – 31, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2016.1204036
- O’Dochartaigh D., Douma M., Alexiu C., Ryan S., & MacKenzie, M. (2017). Utilization Criteria for Prehospital Ultrasound in a Canadian Critical Care Helicopter Emergency Medical Service: Determining Who Might Benefit. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 32(5), 536 – 540. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X1700646X
- Martin D., Bekiaris B., Hansen G. (2017) Mobile emergency simulation training for rural health providers. Rural Remote Health. 2017 Jul-Sep;17(3):4057. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH4057. Epub 2017 Oct 17. PMID: 29040811.
- Huffman, James L.; McNeil, Gord; Bismilla, Zia; Lai, Anita (2016). Essentials of Scenario Building for Simulation- Based Education. Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Pediatrics, 2016, p.19 – 29 https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978 – 3‑319 – 24187-6_2
- Gillman L., Martin D., Engels P., Brindley P., Widder S., French C. (2016). S.T.A.R.T.T. plus: addition of prehospital personnel to a national multidisciplinary crisis resource management trauma team training course. Can J Surg. 2016 Feb;59(1):9 – 11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cjs.010915. PMID: 26574706; PMCID: PMC4734912.
- Lee J., O’Dochartaigh D., MacKenzie M., Hudson D., Couperthwaite S., Villa-Roel C., & Rowe, B. (2015). Factors Associated with Failure of Non-invasive Positive Pressure Ventilation in a Critical Care Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 30(3), 239 – 243. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049023X15000199
- O’Dochartaigh D, Douma M. (2015) Prehospital ultrasound of the abdomen and thorax changes trauma patient management: a systematic review, Injury, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.injury.2015.07.007
- Mrochuk M., O’Dochartaigh D., Chang E. (2014). Rural Trauma Patients Cannot Wait: Tranexamic Acid Administration by Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Air Medical Journal. VOLUME 34, ISSUE 1, P37-39, JANUARY 01, 2015. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2014.09.004