OBJECTIVES The UK ambulance service is expected to now manage more patients in the community and avoid unnecessary transportations to hospital emergency departments (ED). Most people it attends who have experienced seizures have established epilepsy, have experienced uncomplicated seizures and so do not require the full facilities of an ED. Despite this, most are transported there. To understan...

Introduction and aims Paramedics are a skilled group of clinicians with expertise in cardiac arrest. Our research group has complete a trial to comparing two supraglottic airway devices with current practice during cardiac arrest (REVIVEAirways). This is a highly contentious topic amongst UK paramedics, The study aimed to explore the existing customs and beliefs surrounding intubation and resus...

BACKGROUND Over the previous two decades the incidence and number of unplanned out of hospital births Victoria has increased. As the only out of hospital emergency care providers in Victoria, paramedics would provide care for women having birth emergencies in the community. However, there is a lack of research about the involvement of paramedics provide for these women and their newborns. This ...

INTRODUCTION The UK ambulance service often attends to suspected seizures. Most persons attended to will not require the facilities of a hospital emergency department (ED) and so should be managed at scene or by using alternative care pathways. Most though are transported to ED. One factor that helps explain this is paramedics can have low confidence in managing seizures. OBJECTIVES With a vi...

BACKGROUND Although out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major public health problem, individual paramedics are rarely exposed to these cases. In this study, we examined whether previous paramedic exposure to OHCA resuscitation is associated with patient survival. METHODS AND RESULTS For the period 2003 to 2012, we linked data from the Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry to Ambu...

INTRODUCTION Existing studies of inappropriate ambulance use focus on its extent, employing clinical criteria. Little is known about how front-line paramedics assess appropriateness. This study investigates how paramedics view and judge appropriate versus inappropriate ambulance use. METHODS We conducted interviews with 19 paramedics working in two regions in southwestern Ontario that were an...

OBJECTIVES To explore paramedics' attitudes to administering prehospital thrombolysis (PHT). METHOD In-depth interviews with 20 paramedics were recorded and transcribed and analysed for emergent themes using the constant comparative method. RESULTS Although there was a will to provide PHT because of its benefits to patients, its associated risks, aspects of pay and working conditions, and c...

OBJECTIVE Paramedics often perform endotracheal intubation (ETI), insertion of a breathing tube, on critically ill out-of-hospital patients. Recent studies highlight important paramedic ETI shortcomings including adverse events, errors, and poor outcomes resulting from this procedure. Little is known about workforce perceptions of these events. We sought to identify paramedic and physician perc...

Background Previous studies have shown a steep learning curve in endotracheal intubation using the Airtraq(R) for non skilled personnel. We examined 16 Danish paramedics’ ability to intubate by using the Airtraq(R). The paramedics went through a 1-day course at CeMS (Centre for Medical Simulation, the department of Anaesthesia, Aalborg, Denmark) with skill training and simulation based teaching...

BACKGROUND Internationally, continuing professional competence (CPC) is an increasingly important issue for all health professionals. With the introduction of the first CPC framework for Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and the imminent introduction of CPC for Paramedics and Advanced Paramedics (APs) in Ireland, this study aimed to identify attitudes towards CPC and factors that might influ...