title: Research subject enroller program: a key to successful emergency medicine research.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the successful use and impact of individuals paid to enroll clinical research subjects in support of emergency medicine (EM) research.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paramedics and college students were hired to identify/enroll subjects in EM research studies 14 hours/day, 7 days/week. Potential subjects were identified by monitoring emergency medical services radios, routine rounding in the ED, and communication with the ED attending and charge nurse. Enrollers were trained in phlebotomy, obtaining ECGs, obtaining consent in appropriate studies, and post-ED follow-up. They supported ED prospective studies and multicenter clinical trials, as well as departmental surveys and retrospective studies. Survey support included mailing list development, mailing completion, survey database design, and data entry.
  Over 18 months, 17 prospective studies and 8 surveys/retrospective studies were completed. 2,175 subjects were enrolled in prospective studies and 6,500 surveys/retrospective reviews were completed. In the year prior to enroller program initiation, < 100 subjects were enrolled in 3 departmental studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Use of paid, clinical research subject enrollers supports successful recruitment of study subjects and the completion of EM research studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, NY 14642, USA. dcobaugh@ed.urmc.rochester.edu
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Cobaugh
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Spillane
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D012106:Research