Why we need to define our role

There has been a feeling within our profession that paramedics working for NHS ambulance services are the only professionals capable of delivering high quality emergency and urgent care to patients in the prehospital environment—yet today we are faced with numerous challenges that threaten not only the security of that role but also the existence of the paramedic as a profession. Perhaps a few of you may suggest that this is an over-reaction brought on by too much Christmas pudding but there is evidence to support the contention.

All professions need to have their own unique body of knowledge and practice and for health professionals such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians etc., this distinctive knowledge is easy to demonstrate—but for the paramedic, it is much less straight-forward. Take a couple of minutes to think about the body of knowledge and practice that you believe to be unique to our profession.

It is perhaps not as easy as you first thought and I would imagine that many of you were unable to think of anything beyond the environment in which we work. This is certainly a point but the environment on its own is not sufficient to provide the uniqueness evident in the other health professions, given that community nurses and midwives work in the same environment as us.