Medical Devices for Supporting Paramedics and Healthcare Professionals in Early Emergency Intervention: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Medical devices play an increasingly important role in supporting paramedics and healthcare professionals during early emergency intervention by facilitating rapid assessment, monitoring, diagnosis, stabilization, and treatment. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and clinical utility of medical devices used in prehospital and early emergency-care settings and to examine their contribution to timely clinical decision-making and patient outcomes.

Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane CENTRAL, and IEEE Xplore was conducted for studies published between January 2015 and June 2025. The review followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines. A total of 2,846 records were identified. After removing 684 duplicates, 2,162 records were screened by title and abstract. Of these, 2,031 were excluded, leaving 131 full-text articles for eligibility assessment. Following full-text review, 87 studies were excluded, and 44 studies were included in the final synthesis.

Results: Included studies evaluated portable electrocardiography, automated external defibrillators, point-of-care ultrasound, capnography, pulse oximetry, portable ventilators, point-of-care testing, and remote monitoring devices. Most studies reported improvements in early diagnosis, monitoring accuracy, treatment initiation, clinical decision-making, and workflow efficiency. Several studies also demonstrated reductions in time to intervention and improved short-term clinical outcomes. However, heterogeneity in study designs, device types, and outcome measures limited direct quantitative comparison.

Conclusion: Medical devices can substantially support emergency personnel by improving early assessment, decision-making, and intervention. Further high-quality multicenter studies are needed to determine their effects on long-term patient outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and implementation across different emergency-care systems.