Leadership & Management

Emergency medical services (EMS) and waste: a review of the literature on sustainable EMS waste management

It has been claimed that ‘climate change presents the biggest single threat to health in the 21st century’ (Costello et al, 2009: 1693). As a result of this, services need to plan for the health...

Spotlight on Research

As the title alludes to, this study took place across 10 European emergency medical services with the aim of determining if real-time objective feedback, while training on manikins, improves CPR...

Can paramedics treat sepsis?

The Pre-hospital Piperacillin/Tazobactam (PrePip) project tested the concept that UK paramedics could accurately recognise sepsis, aseptically take blood cultures, and safely and rapidly treat septic...

The search and rescue helicopter paramedic: an emerging role

The SAR paramedic role is at an exciting stage in its development. Not only is it transitioning from a predominantly military-provided service to a civilian contracted one, but also SAR paramedics are...

Are coaching and mentoring skills crucial for ambulance service managers? A personal reflection

In the 1960s, the use of the term ‘coaching’ by some experts was different to the perception we have today. Use of the term was perhaps more aligned to my own interpretation, which is, intuitively, to...

Length of professional education of paramedics and nurses at community colleges in the Northeast United States

Paramedics have provided advanced pre-hospital emergency medical care in the US since the early 1970s (National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA), 2007; Edgerly, 2013). According to the...

Does paramedic intubation improve patient outcome?

The second contribution to Spotlight on Research this month includes a summary of a research study which received one of the College of Paramedics' small grants for research: ‘A pilot study into the...

Should the Kendrick Extrication Device have a place in pre-hospital care?

Essentially the KED is a flexible mini back board that, when in position on the casualty, extends from their lower back to above their head. It also extends laterally to encompass the flanks and head,...

Independent prescribing: a journey to provide the best possible care

The Review of Prescribing, Supply and Administration of Medicines (Department of Health (DH), 1999), chaired by Dr June Crown, proposed that prescribing rights should be extended to a range of health...