Available Modules
The challenges of managing paediatric pain
July 2009
Paediatric pain management is a complicated issue, and various barriers exist which prevent paediatric patients receiving optimal prehospital analgesia. These could be described as barriers attributable to the provider, the system, and the patient. This module will investigate each of the three barriers by examining current scholarly evidence, and conclude by suggesting solutions to begin overcoming the challenge of managing children in pain in the prehospital setting.
Patient handover
September 2009
This module discusses the concept of patient handover between ambulance clinicians and hospital staff, using a case study from the author’s practice. It looks both at handovers that take place in ‘resus’ rooms and those less time-critical exchanges in other areas of the Accident and Emergency Department. It explores how the handover can be rendered ineffective by errors in communication between the two parties and how this can be detrimental to the patient. It also looks into whether the hospital or ambulance staff are to blame for errors in patient handover. Finally, suggestions are made for areas of further study.
Survivability of prehospital cardiac arrest
December 2009
Prehospital cardiac arrest patients are historically known to have low survival rates. It is also a common medical presentation that ambulance clinicians have to treat. This survey looked at survivability figures of these patients brought into one hospital over a 12-month period, and discusses factors such as return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), advanced life support (ALS) and basic life support (BLS). It also discusses the difficult choice of whether to ‘stay on scene’ or ‘load and go’.
Reading and reviewing academic articles
March 2010
This module will focus on accessing, reading and understanding academic journal articles. The ability to understand and use articles from journals is a fundamental
aspect of paramedic practice. Like any skill, the ability to read and interpret journal articles, improves the more you practise it. If you are not used to reading articles, or it is not part of your everyday practice, then it can appear pretty daunting in the first instance. This module aims to ‘demystify’ and address some of these fears and hopefully at the end of the module, readers will feel more confident to access, read and begin to make sense of the published literature.
Assessment of the acutely or seriously ill child or young person in the prehospital setting
April 2010
Children and young people (CYP) have distinctive needs within emergency and urgent care. Clinical
presentations can often be confusing with non-specific symptoms and numerous potential diagnoses
which may require a variety of assessment, management and treatment strategies. For the inexperienced practitioner, assessing CYP can be daunting. Applying clinical reasoning to these situations requires the practitioner to have an understanding of child-specific anatomy, physiology, pathophysiology and psychology; as well as the ability to consider other contributing factors such as the child’s ability to communicate.
Furthermore, it has been recommended that every professional who is involved in the care of a
child and/or young person, should, as a minimum, be competent in: recognition of the sick child; basic
lifesupport skills; initiation of treatment using protocols for the management of common conditions;
recognition of rare but treatable conditions; effective communication; recognition of and response to
any concerns about safeguarding and understanding the need for play and recreation activities.
In this article, a case presentation will be used to demonstrate how initial observations require
critical thinking in order to identify alternatives to the most obvious rationale for the presenting
signs and symptoms.
Understanding arrhythmias: paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia in the prehospital setting
June 2010
Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) presents a challenging assessment to the prehospital emergency care provider. The nature of PSVT affects all age groups, has a range of aetiologies, is usually well tolerated but may also result in sudden cardiac arrest. It is able to be terminated by a range of therapies and is the subject of an evolving understanding of pathophysiology related to it. Therefore, it is essential that those providing prehospital care have an understanding of the nature and implications of PSVT in order to effectively manage this condition in the field. This module will use a systematic approach to highlight the pathophysiology, epidemiology, interventions, and issues, to arm the reader with the necessary knowledge to approach this patient with confidence.
Taking a patient history
August 2010
The aim of this module is to provide the reader with a detailed insight to taking a patient history, identifying some key issues and outlining the importance of documenting a patient history. Many paramedic and prehospital practitioners will already be documenting a patient history on a regular basis as an aspect of their everyday clinical practice. A patient report form (PRF), or similar documentation will guide the practitioner. Emergency care practitioners (ECPs) or paramedic practitioners (PPs) may also use a medical model to guide their comprehensive patient history, as outlined in this CPD module. However, for most paramedics and other prehospital or urgent care professionals, the practice of taking a comprehensive patient history is perhaps less familiar. This module will provide the reader with a background to the importance of tacking a patient’s medical history and also to consider developing and refining these skills. This module will also help to explain any patient history notes that you may have read as part of caring for a patient. This module is aimed largely at adult patients, although specific issues in relation to children are identified where appropriate.
