The

abstraction instructions are listed hierarchically ensuring that the data is abstracted from the best source if at all possible. All variables are subject to error and logic checks across other variables and across forms (inhospital and prehospital) which are applied at the time of completion and the case will not close without reconciliation of all the error. Web conferences are conducted for all data guardians to highlight changes to the data set structure, upgrades to the software and discuss difficult variables identified Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical by the data guardians or by the investigators. Data reports to test uniformity are Selleck Ku-0059436 planned and will be discussed at weekly team meetings of the research staff and investigator steering meetings. Technological advances may outpace the study. Some regions/counties that provide 3-lead ECG in the prehospital setting are not currently considering the change in technology, while other areas are in the planning Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical or transitional stages. Any change from 3-lead to 12-lead in a participating site will compromise recruitment Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical rates and regional comparisons. If this happens an additional 3-lead site with similar geographic and demographic characteristics will be recruited and

retrospective data collection will occur to permit concurrent comparisons. In anticipation of this threat to the protocol we have engaged each of the EMS medical directors in the decision to participate. The window of the trial has been confirmed to correspond to the planned changes in the services considering a change. We have planned a prospective cohort study to compare outcomes across two different prehospital interventions (12-lead and 3-lead) and two system changes (transfer to closest hospital versus bypass closest hospital Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to transfer directly to a PCI capable hospital) that do not lend themselves to evaluation by a randomized controlled trial. We anticipate there will be challenges Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical related to ethical

and privacy, oversight of data guardian abstraction, timeliness of implementation, and technological advances. We hope that this evaluation may be helpful to those involved in developing and enhancing multidisciplinary systems of care including EMS services to advance almost local care of patients with STEMI and to inform policy decision making and evidence based budgetary decisions that ultimately will affect care across the Province. List of abbreviations ECG: Electrocardiogram; PHECG: Prehospital electrocardiogram; STEMI: ST segment elevated myocardial infarction; EMS: Emergency Medical Services; PCI: Percutaneous coronary intervention; ED: Emergency Department; AMI: Acute myocardial infarction Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions RG obtained funding for this study. All authors contributed to the study design and the development of the protocol. WR, CZ and RC contributed to the design of PREDICT web based interface.