Call +44 (0)20 7840 9806 The Role of the Paramedic A paramedic is a highly trained and skilled medical professional who is educated to carry out some of the duties of a physician. They call for ambulance staff to urgently establish the likely physical risk, and the person’s emotional and mental state, in an atmosphere of respect and understanding. After 12 months of experience and satisfactory reviews, the Ambulance Services Proficiency Certificate, also known as the Millar program and certificate (Ministry of Health 1966a, 1966b), was awarded as the basic qualification to ambulance staff. This includes making sure there is provision for round-the-clock advice from mental health professionals, within the clinical support infrastructure in each 999 ambulance control room. Guidelines recognise many of these factors, but in order to make meaningful improvements in the care for people who SH, recognising this is not enough. This is not an example of the work produced by our Dissertation Writing Service. These origins of paramedic care, focussing on trauma and life-threatening emergencies, began to lack relevance for paramedics, as case mixes changed, and members of the profession increasingly had to manage minor illness or injury and psychosocial presentations such as people who SH, those with chronic diseases, and mental health problems. Before considering paramedics’ perceptions of caring for people who SH, it is important to recognise the context for the care that is provided by paramedics. These are Red 1 and Red 2 calls where an ambulance is required at the scene within a target time of eight minutes. Paramedics work with high-tech equipment in attending to emergency situations. and how the multiple and complex issues, influence their delivery of care. Job opportunities are therefore generally good, but the number of vacancies varies between regions across the UK. A paramedic is usually the senior member of a two-person ambulance crew, supported by an emergency care assistant or technician. The NHS is an expanding organization, and since the year 2000 there has been a 17% increase in ambulance staff (NHS Confederation 2007b).  This expansion has been influence by many factors, such as changes increased demand for services and changes in provision for urgent and unscheduled care, yet it must be recognised that a major influence on the recent improvements in clinical standards and the design of services has been the introduction of UK National Service Frameworks. They recognise that ambulance staff are increasingly better trained in providing care and treatment at the scene and during transportation to hospital for patients with diverse medical conditions, and are in a privileged position to give early treatment and psychological support for patients following SH. • “A constable finds in a place to which the public have access a person who appears to him to be suffering from mental disorder and to be in immediate need of care or control, the constable may, if he thinks it necessary to do so in the interests of that person or for the protection of other persons, remove that person to a place of safety.” (Sec. How to Become a Paramedic UK “As a healthcare professional, a paramedic works in medical emergency situations. In the UK two pieces of legislation are of fundamental importance in SH. Paramedics encounter people who threaten to harm themselves, engage in SH or die by suicide, yet few have sought to investigate their care for this patient cohort. The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat (2014) provides specific guidance for ambulance services. Paramedics are specially t… In order to improve care in this encounter, it is important to understand SH, what SH is and what it is not, so that subsequent care and treatment is appropriate to the needs of the person. The IHCD Paramedic programme had a major focus on the management of trauma, resuscitation and life threatening emergencies, with limited provision for psychosocial, mental health or behavioural presentations (IHCD 2003). NICE (2004) recognises that in the pre hospital setting, those who SH may refuse treatment. Most paramedics are field-based, in … However, when considering the significant influence of policies such as NSF CHD (2000) over the evolution in the role and education of paramedics, greater recognition in mental health policy of the impact on ambulance services, and the potential contribution their staff could make to the provision of mental health care, may have resulted in better opportunities to influence education and the development of the paramedic role at a time of significant transition and development? This would also require Paramedic education, policies and legislation to evolve to achieve this vision. These changes were designed to ensure police officers can act quicker and more flexibly, whilst ensuring that people receive the assessment and treatment they need in a timely manner. A paramedic provides certain diagnostic services and out-of-hospital treatment. A paramedic would usually make up an ambulance crew (one of a two-person ambulance crew), plus an ambulance technician or emergency care assistant. As a result, new roles for paramedics working in primary and urgent care settings are being developed, either via direct employment or via paramedics on rotation from the ambulance service . The helipad construction is being funded by the HELP … (Read More), More great news coming from the East of England this week, as it’s been revealed that the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) received incredible results in their January patient experience survey! It is therefore important that care for people who SH is based on good evidence in order to provide clinically and cost effective care. This reflects some of the limits of Paramedic care for people who SH, such as the need for collaboration with other professional groups who can provide an effective psychosocial assessment called for by NICE (2004). Throughout this thesis, it is consistently recognised that paramedics are often the first professionals to encounter people who SH. Ambulance services are usually committed to having at least one paramedic on each emergency ambulance. While paramedics can now be found in many primary and urgent care settings across the UK, standardised training is lacking and their diverse roles may not always lead to reductions in GP workload, finds research from a team in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences. There have long been concerns about the way in which health services, social care services and police forces work together in response to mental health crises.” (p.6). Paramedic As a paramedic, you’ll often be one of the first to arrive when a patient needs help. In 2001, the introduction of the Health Professions Order (Health Professions Order 2001) required UK paramedics to register with the regulatory body the Health Professions Council from July 2003. Another important change introduced by The Police and Crime Act (2017) is that where practical to do so, the police have an added duty to consult a registered medical practitioner, a registered nurse or an approved mental health professional, before deciding to remove a person to or to keep them at a place of safety. Guidelines and policy on care for those who Self Harm (SH). Figure 2: Age-standardised suicide rates by sex, deaths registered between 1981 and 2015 (ONS 2015). These programs initially included a Foundation Degree (FD or FdSc) in Paramedic Science or Diploma of Higher Education (DipHE) in Paramedic Science. It’s a fast-paced and vital role where you’ll need to quickly take charge of the situation to save lives. The new NHS modernisation programme emphasised the importance of national standards to ensure consistent, high-quality care as specified in a first-class service (NHS Executive 1998), and the health service circular: Modernisation of Ambulance Services (NHS Executive 1999) set out the government’s view that quality care should be at the heart of the National Health Service. Enhanced levels of training for ambulance staff are called for, on the management of mental health patients. This will be built at the Aintree Hospital Trauma Centre; and aims to maximise the … (Read More), Sorry, you have Javascript Disabled! These are presented in more detail in Appendix A. Models ambulance staffing will undoubtedly impact on care for people who SH, and the transferability of any research in this area should recognise such differing contexts of EMS provision. We present a commentary of recent draft consultations by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in England that set out how the role of paramedics may be evolving to assist with the changing demands on the clinical workforce. Typical duties of the job include: driving and staffing ambulances and other emergency vehicles The roots of modern paramedics and ambulance services lie in the battlefields of the Crimean war, which saw the formation and organisation of ambulances and medical attendants, dedicated solely to the care of the wounded. The aim of the Concordat was for collaboration and improved care in a crisis for people with mental health problems, however the concordat resulted in joint statements, written and agreed by signatories, describing what people experiencing a mental health crisis should be able to expect of the public services that respond to their needs. They include the need for rapid assessment of physical and psychological need (triage), effective engagement of service users, effective measures to minimise pain and discomfort, timely initiation of treatment, rapid and supportive psychosocial assessment (including risk assessment and comorbidity), and prompt referral for further psychological, social and psychiatric assessment and treatment when necessary, and an integrated and planned approach to the problems of people who self-harm. Since publication of the Mental Health Act 1983, there have been many policy documents which have supported and developed its application. Due to the limited research surrounding the require-ments for mentoring paramedic students, ‘mentoring’ practices have been adopted from the findings of profes-sions allied to healthcare, such as medicine, nursing and midwifery, where the role of mentoring is well estab-lished. Whilst it is beyond the reaches of this thesis to provide detailed anthropological insights into the development of paramedics as a cultural group, considering the contextual issues that affect the way care is provided, and how they are perceived by those they care for, their development as a group, and response to changing societal needs, will provide the reader with an appreciation of some of the complexities they face when caring for people who SH. The Franco-German model is also utilised in many areas of South America, particularly in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil (Al-Shaqsi 2010). The changes also now allow for a person to be kept at a place of safety (and not solely removed for a mental health assessment if it is appropriate and they consent. The course included first aid training along with other general and technical subjects, and included learning to care for mentally ill patients and some of the legal aspects associated with this care. Since the publication of the NICE (2004) SH guidelines, the role of ambulance staff in the care of people who SH appears frequently in guidelines. It is common to find paramedics closely working with nurses and doctors, explaining the patients’ situation as they transfer them to their care. The Concordat also provides examples of good practice such as the section 136 working group for Lincolnshire. Measuring such capacity requires the patient’s ability to make decisions as well as: • Understanding information relating to the specific decision, • Using the information to make a choice. Examples of other NSFs which referred to the role of ambulance staff included the: NSF for Older People (DOH 2001), which advocated that ambulance crews refer older people who fall to community-based care, which resulted in a range of referral pathways for elderly fallers being initiated by ambulance Trusts. 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