That’s the title of a paper I wrote with Dr Jason Bendall from the Ambulance Service of NSW. You can read our paper in the latest edition of the Journal of Emergency Primary Health Care.
Michael
26 December 2010
That’s the title of a paper I wrote with Dr Jason Bendall from the Ambulance Service of NSW. You can read our paper in the latest edition of the Journal of Emergency Primary Health Care.
Michael
26 December 2010
Australian Emergency Law 
Michael a very informative article and a topic that i have known to be highly talked about within the various ambulance services, and individual ambulance officers for a number of years.
But my question is can one sector claim the title of Paramedic when most medical dictionaries give a very similar broad definition of a Paramedic being any health care worker other than a doctor, nurse, or dentist. The ranks of paramedics include trained ambulance personnel, first aiders, laboratory technicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, orthopitists, and radiographers. (R M Youngson: Collins dictionary of medicine 1992).
Indeed I have witnessed on one the various websites devoted to the area of pre-hospital emergency care is even having a debate on the best term to use to describe a paramedic although this particular website is American based where the term EMT is the norm for describing ambulance personnel it dose again bring about the question before you register ambulance personnel what is the best term to use to describe what they do if, their present definition dose encompass other allied health professionals. Sounds like nit picking I know but when the term paramedic is used to describe others can one section lay-claim to a title.
But on a personal note I do think it is time that ambulance personnel do have access to national registration.
Dodge, you make a really good point and it may be that the term paramedic is in fact too generic (I note lots of industries like to put the ‘para’ in front of terms, for some years there have been ‘paralegals’ and I saw an ad the other day for a ‘paraplanner’). Whether the term paramedic, or EMT, or ‘ALS Paramedic’ is the one adopted is probably not vital; the need is to try and have a term that means something and that only duly qualified people can use. Given the use of the term paramedic by other allied, non-medical practitioner health professionals, it reinforces that the term is vague and that can lead to risks to patient safety.
Thank you for making your very important contribution.
Michael