Frontier and remote paramedicine practitioner models

O’Meara, Peter; Wingrove, Gary; Nolan, Michael

doi:10.22605/rrh4550

Cited by 11 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…(16,18,19,21,23,(26)(27)(28) Overall, implementation of new roles was consistently highlighted as a positive step towards getting rural communities access to healthcare more promptly. (20,22,23,27) However a note of caution is that volunteering is dependent on the motivation and altruism of volunteers (21)(22)(23) who consistently reported feeling misunderstood and underappreciated by their paramedic colleagues. (20,23) The need to overcome organisational and environmental factors impacting on out-of-hospital healthcare in rural environments is addressed by the third main theme, the expanding role of paramedicine.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(23,28) Reduced opportunities to practice vital skills, particularly those of an advanced or complex nature such as trauma management or intubation, showed a direct correlation to decreased performance in these skills. (22) The need for increased access to continuous professional development opportunities, in particular opportunities specific to rural environments and experiences, was highlighted multiple times. (16,18) One potential solution offered within the literature was the use of regular simulations to practice and maintain key clinical skills.…”

Section: Semi-structured Interviews and Focus Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…( 27) Furthermore, the use of community first responders to assess patients, provide first aid and transport as needed has been demonstrated to be beneficial in increasing accessibility of healthcare for rural and remote communities, further narrowing the gap in healthcare disparities. (22) Paramedics have an increased role in the delivery of telemedicine, which has been noted to have a positive impact in pre-hospital care through providing key diagnostic capabilities. As an evolving profession, the use of technology in paramedicine is expanding and telemedicine is being utilised more frequently, although it remains predominately a hospital-based service.…”

Section: Expanding Role Of Paramedicine In Rural Locationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Nature of Paramedic Practice in Rural and Remote Locations: A Scoping Review

Spencer-Goodsir

Anderson

Sutton

2022

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine

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Introduction: Access to emergency healthcare services and specialist care – particularly paramedic services – is more restricted in the rural and remote areas of Australia, and this disparity is amplified further as remoteness increases. This review aims to investigate the availability of current research regarding both the expanding nature of paramedicine roles in rural environments, and the impacts of rurality on the quality of out-of-hospital care provided to patients. Methods: Arksey and O’Malley’s six-step methodological approach was used to perform a scoping review to assess the availability of literature. Key words including paramedic*, regional, rural, remote and role were inputted into the search engines Scopus, CINAHL and PubMed. Titles and abstracts of the 864 results were screened by all authors and inclusion/exclusion criteria applied, resulting in 13 remaining articles. Results: The final 13 articles comprised differing data collection types and methodologies from nine separate studies conducted in either Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Saudi Arabia or Qatar. Approximately 2.5 million patients, 534 paramedics, 331 other healthcare professionals and 35 case studies were included in the total combined results of these studies. Conclusion: Rural communities demonstrated increased mortality rates in out-of-hospital patients due to several factors including rostering, specialist service locations and limited resource availability. Factors which were beneficial to the outcomes of patients in rural settings included enhanced paramedic scopes of practice, the implementation of community paramedicine programmes and wider roles within the community for paramedics. A lack of research on the exact nature of these changing roles in rural paramedicine is evident.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Semi-structured Interviews and Focus Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Expanding Role Of Paramedicine In Rural Locationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Nature of Paramedic Practice in Rural and Remote Locations: A Scoping Review

Spencer-Goodsir

Anderson

Sutton

2022

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine

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“…As mentioned previously, the expanded paramedic role allows specially trained paramedics to undertake a broader range of tasks to support the rural health care system 7 . The introduction of this extended role in providing out‐of‐hospital care allows patients to be redirected to the most appropriate service following clinical assessment by the paramedic, 6 leading to an overall reduction in hospital presentations 33 and decreased burden on health professionals, in both the community and hospital 7 . This role's potential expansion in rural areas allows for greater professional development and a wider scope of practice and might prove to be a factor that attracts paramedics to work in rural areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating first‐year graduate paramedics’ reason for current work location: A cross‐sectional, data linkage study

Ivec

Beauchamp

Sutton

et al. 2021

Australian J Rural Health

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There is a greater prevalence and burden of disease in rural Australia, including higher rates of chronic disease and mental illness. 1,2 Ensuring an adequate health workforce for rural areas is essential to achieving improved health outcomes. 1 However, in many rural and regional areas of Australia, there is a shortage of health professionals, 3 including paramedics. 1 This might impact on timely and equitable access to health care for populations at greater need. 4

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“…Experts in emergency response, paramedics are well regarded for their ability to perform a wide range of complex, invasive and often life-saving clinical interventions (23,24). As a regulated health profession with a flexible scope of practice, paramedics can readily respond to the needs of the patient population they serve and are now routinely providing non-emergent and scheduled healthcare for remote workers (20,25,26).…”

Section: The Industrial Paramedicmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Demographic and Clinical Practice Profile of Australian Remote and Industrial Paramedics: Findings from a Workforce Survey

Acker

Johnston

2021

Australasian Journal of Paramedicine

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IntroductionA large workforce is employed in remote environments in the Australian mining and fuel sectors. Whereas paramedics are increasingly assuming roles as healthcare providers in these locations, little is known about industrial paramedic practice. The aim of this exploratory study was to better understand the demographics, education, clinical practice and work environment of the Australian paramedic workforce in remote and industrial settings to inform future research and education for the emerging specialty. Methods Web-based respondent driven network sampling was used to recruit remote and industrial paramedics in this cross-sectional descriptive study. A self-administered questionnaire elicited responses (n=111) about participant demographics, work environment, initial and continuing education, and clinical scope of practice. ResultsParamedic participants working in remote and industrial settings are predominately male (86.5%) with the majority aged 35 to 44 years (38.7%). Their job titles range widely and include paramedic, intensive care paramedic, industrial, mine and offshore paramedics. Participants report an average of 15.4 years of total healthcare experience and working in the remote or industrial health sector for a mean of 7.1 years, primarily in Western Australia (34.2%). These paramedics often engage in continuing education, with 45% studying at a vocational or tertiary institution at the time of the survey. Most respondents (63.9%) describe their employment as directly or indirectly related to the natural resource sector and 75.7% have experience in remote settings such as camps, mining sites, offshore platforms, vessels or small communities. Most practitioners (59.5%) work in a full-time capacity and can perform core paramedic skills including intravenous cannulation, 12-lead electrocardiogram interpretation, chest needle decompression and restricted drug administration. Additionally, more than 40% of those actively working in the sector report having endotracheal intubation and intraosseous access in their scope of practice. They also administer immunisations, antibiotics and other prescription medications, manage chronic diseases, and perform low acuity skills typically included in a community paramedic role. ConclusionThis workforce survey is the first of its kind designed to gain a broader understanding of the paramedic practitioners who work in remote and industrial settings and the characteristics of their work environment. Key areas highlighted by this study serve to inform professional regulators, educators and employers with respect to the skills that remote and industrial paramedics perform and the education that is required to support the evolving specialised practice.

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Frontier and remote paramedicine practitioner models

Abstract: Implementation of paramedic practitioner models in frontier and remote settings raises challenging policy and practice issues, including changes in scopes of practice, design of education programs, self-regulation of paramedics, and reimbursement.

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

The Nature of Paramedic Practice in Rural and Remote Locations: A Scoping Review

The Nature of Paramedic Practice in Rural and Remote Locations: A Scoping Review

Investigating first‐year graduate paramedics’ reason for current work location: A cross‐sectional, data linkage study

The Demographic and Clinical Practice Profile of Australian Remote and Industrial Paramedics: Findings from a Workforce Survey

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