Irish Journal of Paramedicine
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International and Unifying Standards of Pre-hospital Care
Full text linkThe author discusses a proposal to unify international standards of pre-hospital care delivery
Improving Cardiac Arrest Care in Ireland
Full text linkThe National Ambulance Service (NAS) serves a population of almost 4.6 million people in the Republic of Ireland, the service responds to over 300,000 ambulance calls each year. The NAS employs over 1,600 staff across 100 locations and has a fleet of approximately 500 vehicles. Emergency Medical Services attempt resuscitation on just under 2000 Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) cases each year.Over the past two years the National Ambulance service has engaged with both the country’s leading resuscitation experts and our international counterparts in a collaborative project focused on developing and expanding the National Ambulance Services response to out of hospital cardiac arrest. The One Life Project not only represents our commitment to improve standards of care it also represents our commitment to measure and publicly report on clinical outcomes of patients.
Welcome to the Irish Journal of Paramedicine
Full text linkWelcome to the first issue of the Irish Journal of Paramedicine (IJP). It gives me great pleasure to launch this journal, a first for Irish paramedics, and pre-hospital care in Ireland. I am also honoured to announce that the IJP has been adopted as the official journal of the Irish College of Paramedics, the professional body for prehospital emergency care practitioners in Ireland. A newly emerging profession, paramedicine is now poised at a crossroads. Previously alluded to with colleagues from around the globe, the role of the paramedic is one that is rapidly evolving, and yet paramedicine as a discipline has yet to figure out where it belongs.(1) Are we public safety professionals, first responders or healthcare professionals? Williams has previously stated that the road less travelled requires the paramedic profession to pursue identity as a healthcare profession and not as emergency responders, EMS workers, or ambulance drivers, which we are so commonly identified as.(2)Initiatives within Ireland such as the Centre for Prehospital Research national research agenda, the move to higher education for paramedics in University College Dublin and the University of Limerick, and the publication of high-quality peer-reviewed research, undertaken for paramedics, led by paramedics, and published in paramedicine journals are key components in this pursuit of professionalism. It is our hope that the Irish Journal of Paramedicine will play its part as a vehicle in this endeavour.It is important however to point out that the Irish Journal of Paramedicine is not exclusively for paramedics. Within Ireland, and around the world, there are many other prehospital care providers, including community responders, volunteer first responders, EMT practitioners, nurses, physicians and others who deliver high quality patient care and are as committed to their personal and professional development as any paramedic. This journal is for the entire prehospital care community, within Ireland and abroad.On behalf of the editorial board and the executive of the Irish College of Paramedics, I would like to outline our vision for this journal. We aim to deliver a high quality, freely accessible, peer-reviewed journal that will help to further the professionalisation of paramedicine and prehospital care provision both in Ireland and internationally.Our aim is to provide you with access to research, reviews, appraisals, clinical updates, case reports and opinions that will help you to provide the best quality service – whether you are a student, clinician, educator, manager or researcher. We aim to present a wide range of topics relating to clinical practice, professional issues, role development, education and training, policy and service delivery, thereby representing all aspects of paramedicine and prehospital care.Our editorial board consists of respected academics, researchers, clinicians and educators from Ireland and abroad who are committed to furthering the cause of paramedicine, and encouraging its future development of professional standing. I am indebted to them for the time they gave so freely in helping to establish this journal.We strongly encourage you to submit articles, reports, letters and other contributions to the journal. It is also our vision to publish abstracts of research activity undertaken by Irish prehospital care providers and practitioners, which has been presented at various conferences and scientific meetings, such as the EMS Gathering, and Irish College of Paramedics Scientific Days to name but two.Remember this is your journal and it will be as successful as you want it to be. This journal has been a long time in the making, and we look forward to helping it to develop into a true academic and clinical resource along with your assistance. Thank you.Alan M. BattEditor Source of support/funding: None.Conflict of interest: AB is Editor of the IJP.Provenance and review: Commissioned, not peer-reviewed.References1. Morton J, Kloepping K, Buick J, Todd J, Batt A. The evolution of the paramedic. Can Paramed. 2015;38(5).2. Williams B, Onsman A, Brown T. Is the Australian Paramedic Discipline a Full Profession ? J Emerg Prim Heal Care. 2010;8(1):3.How to cite this article: Batt AM. Welcome to the Irish Journal of Paramedicine (Editorial). Irish Journal of Paramedicine, 2016; 1(1).This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/),which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work and any attributes thereof are properly cited, are distributed under the same licence, and that the work is not used for commercial purposes. Content copyright remains with the authors, who grant the IJP a licence to reuse and distribute.
Dip(ping) into Foreign Waters…Irish Paramedics’ Royal College Experience.
Full text linkThe Diploma in Immediate Medical Care awarded by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is an internationally recognised award specifically aimed at the area of pre-hospital emergency medical care. The study syllabus is based on phase 1 of the UK Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine curriculum. Award examinations are inter-professional with a set standard regardless of candidates’ clinical level or back-round. The Dip IMC has a reputation for being difficult to pass and, equally, for attracting medical professionals of the highest standard at all grades.To date in Ireland, it has mostly been doctors specialising in emergency medicine that have attempted the award. With the introduction of advanced paramedic practice, the range of practitioners eligible to attempt it has increased. At the time of writing, three Irish advanced paramedics have successfully achieved the award.While it is a difficult award to achieve, and much content is outside current Irish paramedic scope of practice, a motivated, well prepared advanced paramedic can be successful. This article outlines the processes and preparations that two such paramedics followed to successfully achieve the Dip IMC RCSEd
Toward an International Paramedic Research Agenda
Full text linkAround the world the emergency medical services (EMS) profession has made tremendous strides over recent decades. We have become more professional, have a rapidly growing proportion of paramedics who are university qualified, our practice has become more evidence-based, and a growing number of paramedics are completing graduate-level programs and going on to conduct their own research. As a profession we have much to celebrate when we consider these accomplishments.In some ways we are also following in the footsteps of other professions that have developed along similar pathways. A century ago physicians were trained in hospital basements and practiced procedures that had little evidence to ensure their quality or effectiveness. A half century ago nurses were largely trained in hospital basements and again had little research to justify their practices. Members of those professions recognized that the only way out of the basement was through the university. Members of those and other health professions took it upon themselves to make a university degree a requirement to enter practice. They recognized that a university degree was a key requirement of professionalism. Today we could not imagine a physician without a university degree and almost all new nurses and allied health professionals are now graduates of university programs
EMS Gathering 2016 Abstracts
No full textAbstracts from oral and poster presentations at the 2016 EMS Gathering
E-learning on the road: online learning and social media for continuing professional competency.
Full text linkBackgroundThe impact of social media and online learning in health professions education has previously shown generally positive results in medical, nursing and pharmacy students. To date there has not been any extensive research into social media and online learning use by prehospital health care professionals such as paramedics.Aim & MethodsWe sought to identify the extent to which Irish pre-hospital practitioners make use of online learning and social media for continuous professional competency (CPC), and the means by which they do so. A cross-sectional online survey of practitioners was conducted to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data. The release of the survey was in a controlled manner to PHECC registrants via various channels. Participation was voluntary and anonymous.ResultsA total of 248 respondents completed the survey in full by closing date of 31 March 2015, representing 5.4% of all registrants (n=4,555). 77% of respondents were male, and the majority were registered as Emergency Medical Technicians (49%), followed by Advanced Paramedics (26%). Over 78% of respondents used a mobile device in the course of their clinical duties; the majority used an iOS device. Social media and online learning were considered learning tools by over 75% of respondents, and over 74% agreed they should be further incorporated into prehospital education. The most popular platforms for CPC activities were YouTube and Facebook. The majority of respondents (88%) viewed self-directed activities to constitute continuous professional development activity, but 64% felt that an activity that resulted in the awarding of a certificate was better value. Over 90% of respondents had previous experience with online learning, but only 42% indicated they had previously purchased or paid for online learning.ConclusionPrehospital practitioners in Ireland in the population studied consider online learning and social media acceptable for CPC purposes. The main social media outlets used by PHECC registrants are YouTube and Facebook. Practitioners consider online learning that awards a certificate to be better value than self-directed activities. The majority have previous experience of online learning. The results of this study can be used to ensure educational interventions are targeted at practitioners through the correct channels.