LibGuides: .Emergency Medical Services: Start Here

How to Use This Subject Guide

This guide points you toward the best starting points for doing research in this subject area.

Use the tabs on the left to explore different sections of this guide.

If you have questions or need help with research, visit the Get Help section and/or contact the librarian on this guide.

Best Databases to Try

PubMed (with OHSU full text access)
PubMed is a free database which contains more than 33 million citations for biomedical literature, life science journals. Because it is free and contains so much valuable medical evidence, you will likely use PubMed throughout your medical career. OHSU has a larger collection of full text electronic medical journals than OIT, so this PubMed link is configured to show "Find it at OHSU" buttons on search results to help you get the full text.

PubMed Search Help

If a simple search in PubMed does not retrieve the articles for which you are searching, try PubMed Advanced Search Builder (tutorial video above).
To search by subject in the Libraries Catalog or PubMed, MeSH terms should be used for best results. See the About MeSH Headings tab of this box for more information.
Do you need a more in-depth PubMed tutorial? Please contact your librarian (see the profile boxes on this guide), try the tutorials on the NIH website (under Quick Tours), or you can use this PubMed Playlist by medical librarian Carrie Price to get quick tutorials.

CINAHL with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Focuses on patient care, so use when you need to find information on how people and medicine interact. For example, management of patients, assessments, or clinical practices. It provides full text for 790 nursing and allied health journals and many date back to 1982. Also includes Open Access (OA) journals.

MESH headings are used in a number of databases to provide more precise results. The video below explains what they are and how to use them.

To search by subject in the Libraries Catalog or PubMed, MeSH terms should be used for best results. The following list represents a sample of available headings; to obtain a complete list of relevant subject terms, please use the MeSH database in PubMed, the NIH MeSH Browser or consult with a librarian.

Aortic diseases
Coronary disease
Echocardiography
Echocardiography, Doppler
Echocardiography, Doppler, color
Echocardiography, three dimensional
Echocardiography, transesophageal
Heart defects, congenital
Heart Diseases

Need images? This database can help you with that.

SMART imagebase This link opens in a new window
SMART Imagebase contains a growing collection of high-quality illustrations and animations depicting anatomy, physiology, surgery, pathology, diseases, conditions, trauma, embryology, histology and other medical topics. It also includes 100 anatomy coloring book pages. Content is peer-reviewed by graduate-level medical illustrators and expert reviewed by physicians.

OHSU information

The EMS program is a shared program with OHSU - which means you have access to the OHSU library and its resources. Here are some places to go for that access:

OHSU Library
OHSU library accounts
You will need an OHSU barcode to access their materials
OVID Medline
MEDLINE is also included in the free PubMed database, but Ovid provides a different searching experience. Search this resource for in depth medical information
Bates Pocket Guide to Physical Examination
The Bates’ Pocket Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking contains the critical information needed to obtain a meaningful health history, conduct a thorough physical exam, and interpret the findings quickly and accurately. Locate answers fast and review step-by-step techniques and possible findings using the distinctive two-column format, optimized for both smartphones and tablets.
For mobile access:
1. Download the free UCentral app from the iTunes Store or Google Play
2. Access Bates' Pocket Guide to Physical Examination via the OHSU Library
3. Click on the Mobile link at the top toolbar of the resulting page. First time users can register for an account. Once you register, you can log in to use mobile or to personalize your web experience.
4. Using the login information you created when you registered, login to the app on your device.
BMJ Best Practice
This point of care tool provides information on thousands of diagnoses and diagnostic tests as well as diagnostic and treatment guidelines. Patient leaflets are also included.

Google Scholar Set Up

This video (1 min.) shows you how to set up Google Scholar so you can get articles for free through the Oregon Tech Library.

Note: If you find an article in Google Scholar and it doesn't link you back to the OT Library, you can submit a request to get the article from another library for free.