Cover: Fundamentals of Paramedic Practice, Second Edition by Sam Willis and Roger Dalrymple

 

 

 

Through my many years of teaching and working with students I have witnessed at first hand the personal sacrifices students make to complete their pre‐university and undergraduate studies in paramedicine. This book is dedicated to those students who have a deep desire to help people in crisis through working as a paramedic, and are willing to move mountains to succeed in doing so.

Whether you think you can or can't, you're right.

Henry Ford

Fundamentals of Paramedic Practice

A Systems Approach

Second Edition

 

EDITED BY

Sam Willis

Senior Lecturer in Paramedicine, School of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

AND

Roger Dalrymple

Principal Lecturer, Professional Education and Leadership Programmes, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

 

 

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List of contributors

Alice Acutt
Advanced Care Paramedic, Julia Creek, Queensland, Australia

Craig Barlow
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust & Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK

Tianna Camilleri
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Queensland Health, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Roger Dalrymple
Professional Education and Leadership Programmes, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Catherine J. Davison‐Fischer
Emergency Department Psychiatric Service, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK

Jan Davison‐Fischer
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Matthew Faulkner
Anaesthetics North/Western Training Scheme, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Mark Ives
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK

Robb Kightley
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Netta Lloyd‐Jones
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Sonja Maria
School of Biomedical Sciences – Paramedicine, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

Jack Matulich
Intensive Care Unit, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, Queensland, Australia

Duncan McConnell
School of Medicine, Griffith University and Queensland Ambulance Service, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

Rozz McDonald
Mental Health Education Facilitator, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Brockworth, UK

Charlie McGurk
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Buckinghamshire, UK

Clair Merriman
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Nevin Mehmet
Department of Health and Social Care, University of Greenwich, London, UK

Gary Mellor
The Australian Paramedical College, Miami, Queensland, Australia

Georgina Pickering
School of Biomedical Sciences – Paramedicine, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

Helen Pocock
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Bicester, UK

Michael Porter
Critical Care Paramedic and Critical Care Flight Paramedic, Queensland Ambulance Service, Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia

Nathan Puckeridge
Nursing, Paramedicine & Health Science Foundations, Victoria University Polytechnic, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Sue Putman
Mental Health and Learning Disability, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Bicester, UK

Ramon Z. Shaban
Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nursing, Midwifery and Clinical Governance Directorate, Western Sydney Local Health District, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia

Samantha Sheridan
School of Biomedical Sciences – Paramedicine, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

Dan Staines
Department of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare Practice, Coventry University, Coventry, UK

Kallai Sugden
Australia Aid, Port Vila, Vanuatu

Clare Sutton
School of Biomedical Sciences – Paramedicine, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

Ruth Townsend
School of Biomedical Science, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

Kellie Tune
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

Sam Whitby
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, Buckinghamshire, UK

Steve Whitfield
Griffith University School of Medicine, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Queensland Ambulance Service, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Planet Medic, Agnes Waters, Queensland, Australia

Sam Willis
School of Biomedical Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

Bede Wilson
Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

Kerryn Wratt
Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) Paramedic, Ambulance Service Victoria, Omeo, Victoria, Australia
President, Australasian Expedition and Wilderness Medicine Society, Omeo, Victoria, Australia
CEO, RescueMED, Omeo, Victoria, Australia

Preface

This fully revised second edition is a cause for celebration. It not only builds on the strengths of the first edition, which continues to sell globally, but serves as an acknowledgement of the rapidly changing face of paramedicine. The first edition influenced the paramedic profession in many ways: for instance, it has been adopted as a key text at universities around the world, and it is also used as a go‐to guide by many clinicians and educators when they require a brief refresher on a given topic.

The face of paramedicine is rapidly changing. For example in the UK, paramedics are now able to prescribe certain medications, which reduces the burden of patients unnecessarily attending the emergency department. As mental health remains one of the key health priority areas in Australia and the UK, some regions can see specialist paramedics working with registered nurses to provide high‐quality care to meet the needs of mental health patients in the community. These examples allow us to see the confidence the medical profession, politicians, and the public have in paramedics. Paramedic education must also continue to evolve to take into account new evidence, as well as changes to clinical practices that are based upon expert opinion, written in the absence of high‐quality evidence.

So what is new about this second edition? It has been completely revised to ensure that it not only draws upon the most up‐to‐date research and evidence, but also reflects global economic and political changes that have impacts on the safe delivery of care by paramedics. Content revisions have occurred in every chapter, bringing them up to date with the most recent evidence.

This second edition also sees several brand new chapters which reflect the emerging developments in prehospital care. These include exciting new chapters on toxicology, medical terminology, and a chapter which acknowledges that ambulance service caseloads have a high incidence of low‐acuity situations.

Many of the existing chapters have been almost completely rewritten, some of those by new contributors, giving them a fresh new look. These include chapters on human factors, paramedic skills, trauma, and major incident management, two chapters now covering mental health due to the huge demand for such information, and the leadership chapter incorporates new content on mentorship and professional learning. This time around a number of the chapters feature discussions on the ever‐important topic of end‐of‐life care, something that remains central to paramedic practice.

Many of the chapter case studies have also been completely rewritten, and many of the end‐of‐chapter learning activities are new. We are also proud that this edition has maintained its strong connections with industry, drawing upon the many years’ experience of practising clinicians, mainly paramedics, and we must not forget the enormous contribution made by clinical academics, who teach the next generation of paramedics and undertake research, and who have shared their wisdom and expertise in this edition.

Australian and UK standards of education and clinical practice share huge similarities, with many Australian graduates travelling to the UK to work as paramedics at a number of ambulance services over the past decade. This edition places a wider emphasis on such similarities and will be attractive to those who are studying in the UK and Australia, by including a wider contribution from Australian academics and clinicians. However, the second edition will still be suitable for any student preparing to work in a healthcare system that is similar to those of the UK and Australia.

Overall, the revisions in this second edition provide a contribution to the paramedic literature and will be appealing to student paramedics starting out at university, and may be a gentle refresher to those clinicians who need to get their heads back in the book. It will be particularly useful to mentor paramedics who are tasked with the rewarding but challenging role of developing student paramedics, but cannot find a text that provides simplifications of complex themes in paramedic practice.

Sam Willis

Acknowledgements

This second edition received significant support from Abigail Milner, who assisted with collating images, chapter glossary construction, and learning materials.

About the companion website

This book is accompanied by a companion website:

www.wileyfundamentalseries.com/paramedic images

The website includes:

  • Interactive multiple choice questions
  • Case studies to test your knowledge
  • ‘Label the diagram’ flashcards
  • Glossary of terms used in each chapter
  • Answers to activities

Scan this QR code to visit the companion website:

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