A need to balance technical and non-technical skills

Paramedicine is a profession accustomed to change. Our profession has been rapidly changing and advancing, new clinical procedures are continuously introduced and professional responsibilities are expanding, while legislation and accreditation requirements help to enshrine our changing roles and ongoing professional advancement. At the coalface, individual paramedics practise their profession in real-world settings that are inherently diverse, uncontrolled and continuously changing: each case is different, each scene presents different complexities, and each patient has different expectations of their paramedic. How, then, can we ensure that paramedics have the capabilities to thrive within a profession that deals with so much change, complexity and even uncertainty?

The focus for paramedic training has historically prioritised the technical aspects of practice such as visible skills and measurable procedures (Williams, 2013). However, like so many professions in emergency response and other healthcare environments, paramedic practice relies on human cognition and sociality (Simon, 1962; Khan et al, 2018). The ‘messiness’ of working in these unique environments necessitates not only the gathering of clinical information and the implementation of skills, but also capabilities such as critical thinking, decision-making, reflective and reflexive practice, conflict resolution, team work, leadership and resilience (Flin et al, 2008; Cork, 2012; Shields and Flin, 2013).