Strategies to innovate emergency care

The University of Washington was awarded a 5-year competitive renewal as one of 13 clinical hubs for the Strategies to Innovate EmeRgENcy Care Clinical Trials Network (SIREN), a clinical trials network funded by the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS). 

SIREN is charged with performing prehospital and in-hospital clinical trials in cardiovascular, neurologic and traumatic emergency care. 

Continuing trials over the past 5 years at UW include ICECAP (evaluating the duration of therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest), and BOOST3 (evaluating interventions in traumatic brain injury).

Principal investigators for the University of Washington hub are Drs. Nick Johnson, associate professor of medicine (Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine) and emergency medicine and Peter Kudenchuk, professor (Cardiology). The grant awards ~ $16 million across sites for infrastructure support over the next 5 years.

The goal of the SIREN Network is to improve the outcomes of patients with neurologic, cardiac, respiratory and hematologic emergencies by identifying effective treatments given in the earliest stages of care. 

The SIREN Network is composed of a Clinical Coordinating Center, a Data Coordinating Center and 11 SIREN Hubs.