Paramedicine Essay

Paramedicine is a unique field of practice that represents the connection between public health, health care, and public safety. The idea of paramedicine originally featured in the EMS Agenda, which expands the idea of traditional emergency medical services to emergency response system. It brings together responsibilities and roles that are associated with paramedics and at the same time represents the highest level of practice, which is witnessed out of a hospital medicine and cared by non-physicians. This means that paramedicine is a health profession that focuses on assisting families, individuals, and communities to attain, re-attain and at the same time maintaining optimal health, that usually results from sudden onset or acute result that emerges due to medical, and or traumatic events. This type of profession is common and practiced mostly in the out of hospital setting (Adrian 2006, pp. 56). The practice that is associated with paramedicine is usually art, and is based on the sciences of physiology, human anatomy, and pathophysiology. The aim of paramedicine is to promote best possible quality of life, as defined in philosophy of persons and families, which is common throughout their life expectances, which ranges from the care that occurs between birth and death. Paramedicine Profession The profession practice that is used in a paramedicine setting includes a complex and at the same time independent decision making, which is evident in the face of incomplete, ambiguous, and the information that is obtained maybe conflicting. The common decisions making that comes in practice includes readiness and response, patient assessment, scene management, emergency vehicle operations, clinical problem solving, planning, leadership, therapeutic communications, patient education, disposition decisions, and resource coordination. Hence, it involves the application of concepts of medical care at the same time in an uncontrolled, challenging, and austere condition. John’s research paper on Paramedicine World (2006), sums up the natural condition of a professional paramedicine expert, â€Å"People who are in the field of paramedicine should have a wide knowledge and at the same time are supposed to be experienced in issues that are related with complex and fast decision making capabilities without external pressures† pp. 23. Moreover, a part from the idea or portion of practice, paramedicine involves the routine use of medical skills, and tasks, which are controlled by the law. For the different regulated tasks e. . administering a medication, starting an IV, and performing invasive task, requires the practice of paramedicine to be dependent (Adrian 2006, pp. 55). The dependent portion that is present in practice of paramedicine is usually based on a collaborative relationship that has a physician medical director who is charged with provision of medical oversight. The contemporary philosophy that is in medical oversight involves provision of treatment that is common in the physician protocols in encouraging clinical problem solving and in decision-making. Hence, the decision that regards the protocol that is implemented is based on the formation of a specific paramedic diagnosis. Paramedicine bases on the emerging concept of paramedic theory, this theory is based on the study and analysis of three pillars of paramedicine; public health, medicine or health care, and public safety, which interact and intersect. It is stated in the IoM Report EMS at Crossroads (2006), that EMS is currently fragmented and at the same time largely separated from the general and overall health care system. Major emphasis in the theory of paramedic is the integration of emergency medical services, both extra-professionally and intra-professionally. Extra-professional study takes care of integration of EMS with the current nation’s emergency care and the health care system. Intra-professional integration bases on the study of distribution, resource allocation, efficiency and deployment. Other areas that are involved in paramedic theory are response planning, emergency response, inter-facility transfer, community education and response or disaster preparedness. Example of skills of paramedicine staff In different parts of the world, e. g. Canada, United States, United Kingdom and Australia have different tasks that they are supposed to undertake with specified qualifications. However, some skills that they are supposed to be performed include; †¢ Emergency vehicle response †¢ Emergency operations †¢ Mass casualty staging and triage †¢ Patient rescue and extrication †¢ Patient transportation †¢ Notifications and Radio Communications †¢ Life Support (Basic, advanced) †¢ ACLS – Advanced Cardiac Life Support †¢ Pharmacological treatment and electric cardiac arrest †¢ Medical administration and at the same time fluid resuscitation The emergency medication that is offered varies in terms of individual medication, and depends on the preference of the physician medical director, the law and at the same time the standard of the care. The individual medication drugs may include Adenocard and Atropine, which monitors the speed of the heartbeat. At the same time, they treat anxiety and crisis conditions and perform RSI. They may at times be permitted to administer pain relievers, and monitors vomiting. Experts who are in the field of paramedicine should have a wide knowledge of pharmaceuticals and the dugs that aid in life support. Paramedics are supposed to have a wide knowledge on drugs that can save and salvage a situation, and at the same time minimize the effects of side effects† (Richard 2006, pp. 78). As written by James in his article Paramedicine Vision (2006), he states that, â€Å"The field of paramedicine depicts different level of emergency containment, and any service that is administered depends on the laws of that specified region, the advice from the physician in charge and the nature of incident† (pp. 45). Qualified Paramedicine Place of Work They are usually employed by different organization, with varied operations distinctions. At the same time, they can be employed by the government agencies in public hospital, part of fire department and municipal EMS service. There presence is common in private sector organizations e. g. private ambulance companies, private hospitals, mines, corporations, racetracks and air ambulance services. At the same time they can work in voluntary sector which they do not offer monetary compensation e. g. community response units or Volunteer Fire Department. Paramedicine in United States Paramedicine is practiced different and the qualifications that are required differ between states. An example is the United States, a paramedic is a person who is qualified in paramedicine field and responds to treatments and medical emergencies and trauma that is common in outside of hospital settings. They provide treatment on the scene and during the transportation to a hospital emergency department. People from this profession also treat patients who do not require hospitalization, such as large events and public gathering. They obtain the legal authority to practice pre-hospital medical care in the said field, and they obtain license from physician medical director who are specialized in the field of Emergency medicine. In this scenario, they serve in out-of-hospital extension of the emergency services, which are offered by medical doctors in the hospital emergency sector. The medical doctors are qualified, and have great amount of experience and directs the functions that are performed by EMTs and other medical responders. There are different ways that the paramedics as stipulated by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are classified – EMT – B (basic), EMT – I (Intermediate), EMT – P (Paramedic) and the First Responders. In the United States, paramedics who work independently, and are under the direction of emergency medical control physicians, and they provide the most advanced emergency level for public outside hospital settings. Nevertheless, there are exceptions to those physicians who operate with air ambulance and jurisdictions that honor CCP – Critical Care Paramedic courses, which are not accepted by the state but are required during hospital ICU to hospital ICU transfers. In general, this means that depending on the region where the department is situated, their ability depends on the states or region conditions. There may be rules and conditions that are supported in the United States and are not eligible in United Kingdom or Australia. At the same time the technology and support that such institutions receive differs a lot, which results in different levels of success in their operations. Paramedicine is an important field in maintaining the state of human life. The demands that are required by different level of populations: individual, family and community are completely different. People who are involved in paramedicine have to understand all socio-ethical, traditional, and legal jurisdiction. The field of paramedicine has various issues that are brought into focus. These issues should be merged in certain way that it does not cause any conflict and they include public health, health care and public safety. Hence, combines different categories to yield paramedics. It is able to combine features that are seen in physiology, human autonomy, and pathophysiology to give birth to a conclusive field of practice. Its operability is some how demanding since it is dependent and at the same time requires stringent decision-making tasks. All this are based in the field of paramedic theory, and brings issues that are related with extra profession and intra-profession, The different fields that are required are used differently depending on the nature of the situation and conditions that are set. This means that it is a collaborative work between different governmental, private and volunteer groups.