[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 234 (Thursday, December 9, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70127-70129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26630]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Supplemental Evidence and Data Request on Emergency Medical 
Service/911 Workforce Infection Control and Prevention Issues

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.

ACTION: Request for supplemental evidence and data submissions.

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SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is 
seeking scientific information submissions from the public. Scientific 
information is being solicited to inform our review on Emergency 
Medical Service/911 Workforce Infection Control and Prevention Issues, 
which is currently

[[Page 70128]]

being conducted by the AHRQ's Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC) 
Program. Access to published and unpublished pertinent scientific 
information will improve the quality of this review.

DATES: Submission Deadline on or before January 10, 2022.

ADDRESSES: 
    Email submissions: [email protected].
    Print submissions:
    Mailing Address: Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, 
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ATTN: EPC SEADs 
Coordinator, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E53A, Rockville, MD 20857.
    Shipping Address (FedEx, UPS, etc.): Center for Evidence and 
Practice Improvement, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ATTN: 
EPC SEADs Coordinator, 5600 Fishers Lane, Mail Stop 06E77D, Rockville, 
MD 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jenae Benns, Telephone: 301-427-1496 
or Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality has commissioned the Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPC) 
Program to complete a review of the evidence for Emergency Medical 
Service/911 Workforce Infection Control and Prevention Issues. AHRQ is 
conducting this technical brief pursuant to Section 902 of the Public 
Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 299a.
    The EPC Program is dedicated to identifying as many studies as 
possible that are relevant to the questions for each of its reviews. In 
order to do so, we are supplementing the usual manual and electronic 
database searches of the literature by requesting information from the 
public (e.g., details of studies conducted). We are looking for studies 
that report on Emergency Medical Service/911 Workforce Infection 
Control and Prevention Issues, including those that describe adverse 
events. The entire research protocol is available online at: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/ems-911-workforce-infection-control/protocol.
    This is to notify the public that the EPC Program would find the 
following information on Emergency Medical Service/911 Workforce 
Infection Control and Prevention Issues helpful:
    [ssquf] A list of completed studies that your organization has 
sponsored for this indication. In the list, please indicate whether 
results are available on ClinicalTrials.gov along with the 
ClinicalTrials.gov trial number.
    [ssquf] For completed studies that do not have results on 
ClinicalTrials.gov, a summary, including the following elements: Study 
number, study period, design, methodology, indication and diagnosis, 
proper use instructions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, primary and 
secondary outcomes, baseline characteristics, number of patients 
screened/eligible/enrolled/lost to follow-up/withdrawn/analyzed, 
effectiveness/efficacy, and safety results.
    [ssquf] A list of ongoing studies that your organization has 
sponsored for this indication. In the list, please provide the 
ClinicalTrials.gov trial number or, if the trial is not registered, the 
protocol for the study including a study number, the study period, 
design, methodology, indication and diagnosis, proper use instructions, 
inclusion and exclusion criteria, and primary and secondary outcomes.
    [ssquf] Description of whether the above studies constitute ALL 
Phase II and above clinical trials sponsored by your organization for 
this indication and an index outlining the relevant information in each 
submitted file.
    Your contribution is very beneficial to the Program. Materials 
submitted must be publicly available or able to be made public. 
Materials that are considered confidential; marketing materials; study 
types not included in the review; or information on indications not 
included in the review cannot be used by the EPC Program. This is a 
voluntary request for information, and all costs for complying with 
this request must be borne by the submitter.
    The draft of this review will be posted on AHRQ's EPC Program 
website and available for public comment for a period of 4 weeks. If 
you would like to be notified when the draft is posted, please sign up 
for the email list at: https://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/email-updates.
    The technical brief will answer the following questions. This 
information is provided as background. AHRQ is not requesting that the 
public provide answers to these questions.

Guiding Questions

    1. What are the characteristics, incidence, prevalence, and 
severity of occupationally-acquired exposures to infectious diseases 
for the EMS/911 workforce?
    a. How do the incidence, prevalence, and severity of exposures vary 
by demographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race, ethnicity) of the 
workforce?
    b. How do the incidence, prevalence, and severity of exposures vary 
by workforce characteristics (e.g., training, experience, level of 
practice, geographic region)?
    2. What are the characteristics and reported effectiveness (i.e., 
benefits and harms) in studies of EMS/911 workforce practices to 
prevent infectious diseases?
    a. How do workforce practices to prevent infectious diseases vary 
by demographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race, ethnicity)?
    b. How do workforce practices to prevent infectious diseases vary 
by workforce characteristics (e.g., training, experience, geographic 
region etc.)?
    c. How do workforce practices to prevent infectious diseases vary 
by practice characteristics (e.g., training, personal protective 
equipment (PPE), personnel, and budget requirements)?
    d. What is the reported effectiveness (i.e. benefits and harms) in 
studies of EMS/911 workforce practices to prevent infectious diseases? 
(Outcomes of interest include but are not limited to, incidence, 
prevalence, duration, severity, missed work, healthcare utilization, 
separation from the workforce, disability, and death from infections.)
    3. What are the characteristics and reported effectiveness (i.e., 
benefits and harms) in studies of EMS/911 workforce practices to 
recognize and control (e.g., chemoprophylaxis, but excluding treatment) 
infectious diseases?
    a. How do workforce practices to recognize and control infectious 
diseases vary by demographic characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race, 
ethnicity) of the EMS/911 workforce?
    b. How do workforce practices to recognize and control infectious 
diseases vary by workforce characteristics (e.g., training, experience, 
level of practice, geographic region)?
    c. How do workforce practices to recognize and control infectious 
diseases vary by infection recognition and control practice 
characteristics (e.g., training, PPE, personnel, and budget 
requirements)?
    d. What is the reported effectiveness (i.e., benefits and harms) in 
studies of EMS/911 workforce practices to recognize and control 
infectious disease? (Outcomes of interest include but are not limited 
to, incidence, prevalence, duration, severity, missed work, healthcare 
utilization, separation from the workforce, disability, and death from 
infections.)

[[Page 70129]]

    4. What are the context and implementation factors of studies with 
effective EMS/911 workforce practices to prevent, recognize and treat 
occupationally-acquired infectious diseases? This description might 
include distinguishing factors such as workforce training, 
surveillance, protective equipment, pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis, 
occupational health services, preparedness for emerging infectious 
diseases, and program funding.
    5. What future research is needed to close existing evidence gaps 
regarding preventing, recognizing, and treating occupationally-acquired 
infectious diseases in the EMS/911 workforce?

 PICOTS (Populations, Interventions, Comparators, Outcomes, Timing, and
                                Settings)
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                           Inclusion criteria        Exclusion criteria
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Population...........   Emergency medical   Fire
                        service workforce           fighters and police
                        including 911 dispatchers   personnel not
                        exposed to or at risk of    involved in medical
                        exposure to an              care.
                        occupationally-acquired
                        infectious disease as
                        contact exposure,
                        respiratory exposure, or
                        blood-borne exposure.*
Intervention.........   One or more of      NA.
                        the following types of
                        interventions:
                          [cir] Training or
                           education.
                          [cir] PPE protocols....
                          [cir] Personnel
                           policies.
                          [cir] Budget
                           allocations.
                          [cir] Vaccines.........
                          [cir] Equipment........
Comparison...........   Any comparison      Studies
                        group (for studies that     without a comparison
                        evaluate the                group (for studies
                        effectiveness of an EMS/    that evaluate the
                        911 workforce practice).    effectiveness of an
                                                    EMS/911 workforce
                                                    practice).
Outcomes.............   Incidence           NA.
                        Prevalence.......
                        Duration.........
                        Severity.........
                        Missed work......
                        Healthcare
                        utilization.
                        Separation from
                        the workforce.
                        Disability.......
                        Death from
                        infections.
Timing...............   Published after
                        2006 and includes data
                        after 2006.
Setting..............   Conducted in the    Military
                        United States.              exercises and
                                                    drills.
                                                    Live
                                                    evacuations from
                                                    another country.
Study design.........   Experimental and    No original
                        non-experimental studies    data (Narrative
                        with comparison groups,     reviews,
                        including pre-post          commentaries,
                        studies.                    simulation studies).
                        Relevant
                        systematic reviews..
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* Organisms of interest included but are not limited to SARS-COV2,
  influenza, tuberculosis, HIV, and Hepatitis B and C.


    Dated: December 3, 2021.
Marquita Cullom,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 2021-26630 Filed 12-8-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P