End-of-life care is part of EMS, but many systems aren’t prepared to provide it well. In this episode, we explore how prehospital teams can integrate palliative care into their practice, recognize when the goal should shift from prolonging life to providing comfort, and build systems that support patients and families during some of their most difficult moments. We discuss practical approaches to caring for patients at the end of life, the role of EMS in honoring goals of care, and what it takes to develop a system that supports clinicians rather than simply transporting patients to the next level of care.
And then there is the part we don’t always talk about: what happens when the patient is someone you know? A colleague. A friend. A family member. Maybe even the person who works beside you every shift.
This episode takes a practical and deeply human look at end-of-life care in the prehospital environment, and how we can be better prepared for the calls that stay with us long after the shift ends.
Breyre, A. M., Wang, D. H., Brooten, J. K., Colwell, C. B., Hanson, K. C., Taigman, M., & Lyng, J. W. (2023). EMS care of adult hospice patients: A position statement and resource document of NAEMSP and AAHPM. Prehospital Emergency Care, 27(5), 560-565. https://doi.org/10.1080/10903127.2023.2193978
Kumar, P., et al. (2023). Emergency medical services and palliative care: A scoping review. BMJ Open, 13(3), e071116. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-071116
National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care. (2018). Clinical Practice Guidelines for Quality Palliative Care (4th ed.). National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care.
National POLST Collaborative. (2025). National POLST Form Guidance. National POLST Collaborative.
National POLST Collaborative. (2020). POLST and EMS: Frequently Asked Questions. National POLST Collaborative.
Henson, L. A., et al. (2022). End-of-life care pathways in the Emergency Department and their effects on patient and health service outcomes: An integrative review. International Emergency Nursing, 63, 101153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ienj.2022.101153
Maloney, L. M., Hoffman, J., Peralta, E., Princi, R., Thode, H. C., DiDonato, C., LaBarbera, A., & Williams, S. (2024). Informal peer support and intentional acts of kindness may attenuate the impact of work-related stressors on compassion satisfaction, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout of emergency medical services clinicians. Air Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amj.2024.03.005
