Student number: 1080838 PAR 101: Paramedic Professional Studies Essay Statement A paramedic is a health care professional operating autonomously and independently within the Australian health care system Name: Matthew Rae Student number: 1080838 Course Coordinator: Belinda Flannigan Word count: 1349 This essay will explore the statement ‘a paramedic is a health care professional operating autonomously and Independently, within the Australian health care system’. The role of the paramedic is ever changing, but never so much as it is of late. However, there has been little reflection of those changes in either the perception of the discipline as a profession or the manner in which the profession is trained, socialised and educated. Paramedics currently at best are seen as semi-professional and a great deal of discussion about whether the discipline actually wants to achieve full professional status exists. In the past twenty years from 1995 to 2015, paramedics have been the main provider of pre-hospital care, transitioning from ambulance drivers to the current practitioner role. However paramedics are not yet classified as health care professionals, even though they work alongside and in conjunction with other recognised health care services. The paramedic industry therefore works independently from other health care organisations and autonomously and exclusively within their own state organisation. This essay explores the evolution of paramedics and investigates the advancement in the skills and recognition within the ambulance service over the past twenty years, highlighting their present status as a semi profession. Investigation into the state specific capacity of a paramedic and the imminent changes enco... ... middle of paper ... ..., J & Pedler, D n.d, ‘Extending the paramedic role in rural Australia: A story of flexibility and innovation’, Rural and Remote Health, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 6-8, doi: Oxford Dictionary, 2014, viewed 15 May 2014 < http://www.oxforddictionaries.com> Williams, B, Brown, T & Onsman, A 2012, ‘From stretcher-bearer to paramedic: The Australian paramedics’ move towards professionalisation’, Australian Journal of Paramedicine, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 8, viewed 12 May 2014, < http://ro.ecu.edu.au/jephc/vol7/iss4/8/> Williams, B, Jennings, P, Fiedler, C & Ghirardello, A 2013, ‘Next generation paramedics, agents of change, or time for curricula renewal?’, Advances in Medical Education & Practice, vol.4, pp. 225, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S53085 Willis, E, Reynolds, L & Keleher, H 2012, Understanding the australian health care system, Mosby Elesvier, Chatswood, NSW.
There is no doubt that beneficence is an important principle that paramedics are taught to follow with every patient. In the Nola Walker case, beneficence was achieved to an extent. They performed two vital signs assessments, seven minutes apart, and assessed the laceration which was caused by her seatbelt. Walker was persistent in her refusal to be taken to hospital or any treatment. We know that the average clinical approach is much larger than what was executed, especially with a trauma victim. While the beneficence principle has not been fully implemented, the paramedics operated at the best of their ability at the time, and in a result of potentially lacking in benefitting the patients needs, they respected her aspirations to not be transported or treated. Autonomy is to have the right over your own being, so when Walker stated she doesn't need to be transported or treated is her right and the paramedics deemed her to be competent and informed enough to make that decision. Due to her refusal, the standard of beneficence was fulfilled to the length of their
Another risk factor that has an impact on the quality of health care delivered to rural population is the lack of sufficient skilled experienced health care providers in remote and regional area of Australia. Health care professionals working in rural areas have to be well trained in emergency and trauma cases as the health care conditions presented in rural areas are different than those in the cities as a result of increased environmental hazardous and injuries(Veitch, 2009). Most health care professionals are ex...
They have implemented a new level of pre-hospital technician above a paramedic, called the community paramedic or the paramedic practitioner. It requires more education than the normal paramedic, but it greatly expands the role and ability to treat a whole spectrum of health problems. They would no longer only be there to treat emergencies; they would be able to help in everyday health issues. There are some critics of this program, Dr. Bryan Bledsoe,“ This use of advance paramedic practitioners holds promise, but it’s still to early to tell,” he says.
This paper will discuss the internal organizational conflict that occurred in the Wake County Department of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) after the formation of the Advanced Practice Paramedic Division (APP). Wake County EMS (WCEMS) is the sole entity with in the Wake county Government structure that is charged with providing prehospital emergency medical care to the visitors and citizens of Wake County. This paper is based on the opinion of the writer; it does not and is not reflective of the department’s opinion or the stance of the county.
Ambulances help many people in life or death situations every year. Ambulances can get people to the nearest hospital, faster than the speed a normal person could. Ambulances can cut driving times, by more than half of what it would normally take. Ambulances can also provide early medical care. When people are picked up in the ambulance, surgeons or other medical personnel, will be there waiting to help the patient. Without the help of ambulances and the EMS, many people would not be able to live, in a life or death situation. The invention of the ambulance and the EMS has changed modern day health
“Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics.” Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition. 17 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Feb. 2010.
Niles, N. J. (2011). Basics of the U.S. health care system. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
By the end of our early dinner Bill, an EMT and firefighter in his thirties with wire rimmed glasses, had me and the other six or so EMTs doubled over in laughter from jokes and stories ranging from a mental institution neighboring his childhood home to police, or as they called them, “blue canaries.” Since police tended to rush into a scene if there were downed policemen around then it was a sign that the scene wasn’t safe for other first responders. If I hadn’t known Bill was an EMT training to be a paramedic he could’ve made a living as a comedian. As we ate, all the EMTs swapped stories about their experiences in the emergency room, burn ward, or ambulance rides. Each taking pride if theirs was the most gruesome and serious. Delivering children and asthma attacks were nothing, but cardiac arrests and head-on collisions were something to talk about. EMTs are a group of highly motivated individuals who work together as a team to save lives in emergency situations.
One of the significant current discussions in healthcare since the Francis Report, concerns the regulation and training of Healthcare Assistants. Healthcare Assistants (HCAs), also known as Healthcare Support Workers, work in a wide variety of healthcare settings from GP surgeries and clinics to acute hospital wards. There are 1.3 million of them working in front-line care roles in the UK (DoH, 2013). These workers are currently unregulated and at present there is no compulsory role-specific training. HCAs are legally permitted to carry out most clinical tasks of a Registered Nurse, however, there is no definitive list stating what tasks they can or cannot undertake. This paper will attempt to demonstrate that there is an urgent need for HCA regulation and standardised training. It has been divided into four parts. The first part deals with the arguments for HCA regulation, the second with the hurdles that regulation would bring and the last part will attempt to draw some concussions and recommendations.
Studies have shown that an ideal patient care setting would be an all RN staffing, where the “safest care is delivered by the most-educated bedside nurse” (Bellury, Hodges, Camp, & Aduddell, 2016, p. 345). However, “Driven by competitive market practices hospital administrators are embracing restructuring. They are radically altering the skill mix… and thinning the ranks of their skilled registered nurses (RNs), often substituting cheaper, inexperienced, personnel and minimally trained unlicensed assistive” (Orne, Garland, O’Hara, Perfetto, & Stielau, 1998, p. 101). Hence, delegation of task has become a common practice where as cited in Learning House (2007), some aspects of care delivery are shared that
I have also, in the past, achieved a 'First Aid' qualification, but plan to renew it in the very near future. This certification process has allowed me to obtain the knowledge to use proper techniques and methods when dealing with emergency situations.
rendered first aid or emergency care at the scene of an accident, casualty or disaster to a
There are many members of the inter-professional team, all of which are contributing to the healthcare of acute and critically ill patients. Every member of the team has had education and obtained a license of practice compatible to their level of knowledge (Prater, Fundamentals of Nursing, 2013). As a practical nurse you need to be mindful of your scope of practice in relation to registered nurses, certified nurses’ assistants and other healthcare professionals. With so many different people involved in the immediate care of a patient, there is always the possibility of a mix up. The purpose of this paper is to help differentiate between the roles of the healthcare staff, which will in turn help develop a knowledge base for prioritizing care;
Philosophically the term emergency medical service has developed to represent a transition from a simplistic system of vehicles delivering only transportation, to a system by which certified medical care is provided on scene and during transport. However in some less developed regions, emergency vehicles are still fundamentally a means of transportation to the medical facility that will provide care.
Emergency room physicians see many incommensurable types of injuries everyday. The six most common injuries occurring in the ER are from trampolines, lawn mowers, playgrounds, swimming pool, bikes, and burns. These kinds of damage are all things that ER physicians could see on a daily basis. From acquiring all this knowledge, I have decided that I want to enter the field of medicine, as an emergency room physician. Granted that emergency room physician jobs are stressful, due to the fact that they are dealing with injured and upset people 24/7. WIthin the medical field there are always risks of personal harm. Due to the risk this occupation holds has intrigued me from the beginning. Also to further gain my knowledge on what emergency room physicians do, I went to various sites on the internet. These sites informed me about the emergency room physician job description, characteristics, salary and everything I need to know about emergency room physicians.