Development of a GIN‐McMaster Checklist Extension for Out‐of‐Hospital Health Guidelines: A Research Protocol

ABSTRACT Introduction The delivery of healthcare in the out‐of‐hospital setting by paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and first responders is informed by various health guidelines that cover a myriad of medical presentations. These guidelines often score poorly on quality assessment tools and do not routinely meet accepted standards for guideline development. To address this, we propose the development of an extension to the Guideline International Network (GIN)‐McMaster Guideline Development Checklist (GDC) to assist developers of health guidelines on out‐of‐hospital care. Methods The aim of this project are to: (i) identify the current methodologies, approaches and processes used by developers of guidelines on out‐of‐hospital care and determine how they align with the original GIN‐McMaster GDC; (ii) understand the overarching barriers and enablers of guideline development in this setting; (iii) generate a fit‐for‐purpose extension through an iterative consensus‐based approach; and (iv) disseminate this document to target users. Discussion This protocol outlines the proposed development of an extension to the GIN‐McMaster GDC, designed specifically for developers of health guidelines on out‐of‐hospital care. The development of this extension will be informed by understanding current practices and the determinants that influence guideline development in this setting. This will involve reviewing all items within the original checklist to determine if modifications and/or new items are required. Summary Out‐of‐hospital health guidelines are commonly used by paramedics, emergency medical technicians and first responders. These guidelines do not routinely meet accepted standards for guideline development and score poorly on quality assessment tools. This protocol describes the intended methodology that will be used to create a contextualised out‐of‐hospital extension to the GIN–McMaster Guideline Development Checklist. To inform the development of this extension, we will first survey and interview developers of out‐of‐hospital guidelines to understand their current practices and the barriers and enablers that influence guideline enterprise in this setting. The extension will then be developed through an iterative consensus‐based approach which will involve pilot‐testing prior to finalisation.