Table 2 The top five priority research areas with key questions to be addressed

Appropriate staffing and training in pre-hospital critical care and the effect on outcomes. This includes the value of physicians in the pre-hospital field.

What staffing and training is required to meet the needs of specific groups of critical care patients in the pre-hospital environment?

Is the cost of high-level staffing worthwhile?

Which training methods are successful, and how are the skills maintained and assessed?

Advanced airway management in pre-hospital care: what is best for the patient?

What are the indications for advanced airway interventions?

What factors influence the decision to intubate, and what is the physician's role in decision-making?

When should alternative airway devices or conservative airway manoeuvres be used?

Define time windows for key critical interventions which are indicated in the pre-hospital phase of care.

How does time to definitive in-hospital care influence pre-hospital decisions, and how do pre-hospital decisions influence the time to definitive in-hospital care?

Do pre-hospital management protocols result in better adherence to evidence-based guidelines in time-critical conditions?

Which clinical situations are time limited or time dependent?

The role of pre-hospital ultrasound.

Which ultrasound examinations can be reliably transferred to the pre-hospital setting?

How does pre-hospital ultrasound affect patient management and the patient pathway?

How should providers achieve and maintain specific ultrasound skills?

Dispatch/activation criteria for pre-hospital critical care services.

Which criteria accurately identify high acuity patients who require critical care attendance or transport?

Do established dispatch systems efficiently target high-resource services?

What defines under- and overtriage in specific patient groups, and what rates do current systems produce?