The REHEARSE Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Chest pain in the ambulance: a prospective evaluation of a paRamEdic modified HEARt ScorE
IRAS ID
274085
Contact name
Karl Charlton
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
Chest pain is one of the most common reasons people call an ambulance. Normal care involves a paramedic taking an electrocardiogram (ECG) to determine if there is evidence of a cardiac event such as a heart attack. All patients who are having a cardiac event are transported to a specialist cardiac centre. The majority of patients will have a normal ECG and are not having a heart attack. All patients are transported to hospital for blood tests that can definitively rule out a cardiac event.
The modified HEART score is a tool to identify patients at low risk of a cardiac event whose ECG shows no evidence of a heart attack. The score contains four elements: History, ECG, Age and Risk factors and each element is allocated a score of 0,1 or 2. A score of 0-3 means the patient is low risk and 4-8 high risk. Using the modified HEART score, it may be possible to better identify those at low risk of a cardiac event such as a heart attack, helping paramedics to make treatment decisions.
At present there is no evidence to say if the modified HEART score calculated by a paramedic can identify patients at low risk of a cardiac event.
Paramedics will seek verbal consent in the ambulance for study participation and will calculate the modified HEART score from routinely collected data after the patient has been handed over in hospital. A member of the research team will visit the patient in hospital to seek written consent for study participation and follow up. We will check patient outcome data at 30 days from hospital care records.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/WM/0255
Date of REC Opinion
7 Oct 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion