Paramedics
The Problematic Autonomy of Australia's Paramedics

The paramedic is a critical contributor to the effectiveness of Australia's collective healthcare system as well as of the numerous states that comprise the nation. As critical first-responders endowed with the skills, knowledge and training to provide onsite emergency and acute treatment either prior to or while transporting a patient to a hospital facility, paramedics are essential to the protection of the public health. And yet, few healthcare professions remain as hazily defined, poorly represented or shabbily treated as Australia's paramedics. As the discussion here below will demonstrate, this condition is largely a product of the fact that the occupation is allowed to operate relatively independently from the licensure, certification and centralized oversight that mark the career development of other healthcare service professions. This definitional limbo is a major cause for the long-standing absence of consistency for a qualified and state-sanctioned paramedic as well as….

In addition to physical indicators, the authors note that elder abuse can be recognized by behavioral or other indicators as well. Behaviorally, the elder person might be emotionally upset or agitated, withdrawn, fearful, depressed, and so on. Other indicators include an unexplained inability to pay bills, and a disparity between the income, assets and lifestyle.
To report cases of such abuse, adult protective services are available to receive and investigate reports. It is perhaps good to mention here that a paramedic should carefully examine the patient in question before making any reports. He or she should also interview the individual concerned to determine and substantiate suspected abuse. If such a report is made without grounds, it could needlessly damage the reputation of the individuals involved; which in turn could lead to legal expenses for the hospital.

However, if abuse that occurs is not reported, the consequences could be even worse, resulting….

I believe today I did everything right, because I had no gauze or bandages for the seriously injured person and had no medical training.
hen I was in high school, my parents were involved in an accident, and someone tried to pull my mom out of the driver's seat when the steering wheel was actually pressed against her chest. That was a mistake, because it caused more bleeding and deeper injuries to her ribs. It is clear that when a good Samaritan stops to help an injured person, it's best to let the profession paramedics (which I plan on becoming) handle those delicate chores. Comforting the injured with positive, empathetic body language and directing traffic is about all a layperson should try to do.

In conclusion, a reader doesn't realize how little he or she knows about the power of nonverbal communication until delving seriously into the literature. The fact that….

Hazmedics are also called 'toxmedic, hazmat paramedic, or hazardous materials medic..." (Schnepp, 2003) Schnepp states that the hazmedic "functions as a prehospital resource for acute toxicological illness, chemical exposures, and overall health and safety and has the ability to...":
1) Recognize the setting of, or potential for, a chemical exposure, toxicological illness, or biological warfare agent exposure;

2) Render appropriate treatment for nerve agent and general industrial chemical exposures. Recommend decontamination procedures for contaminated patients. Serve as a special toxicological reference at any incident. Assist with pre- and post-incident medical monitoring and determine hazmat team member status (for example, "Cleared for entry," "Restricted from entry," "Send to rehab," and "Treatment and/or transportation required"); and 3) Assist with WMD-specific training to fire department personnel and outside jurisdictions." (Schnepp, 2003)

The requirements for certification as a 'hazmedic' is a 24-hour curriculum training program as well as the following requirements:

1. Three years of experience as….

Community Paramedicine
When it comes to healthcare in the United States, there are a number of challenges and issues that challenge everyday Americans all of the time. The common refrains are access to providers, costs and so forth. However, the devised and proposed solutions are also gaining prominence as well. One such solution has come to be known as community paramedicine. The key to community paramedicine is that emergency management services (EMS) personnel act outside of and beyond their traditional scope of duties and responsibilities. This is done as a means to enhance and improve the healthcare options that exist within the communities. This report is meant as a review and summary of the use of community paramedicine and how it can be created and expanded in the state of Maryland. While the community paramedicine methodology is still very much in its nascent stages, the potential benefits and better outcomes for….

EMS Systems
There are many different EMS systems that utilize advanced life support (ALS) professionals in different ways. Some EMS systems will have an ALS professional on all first response units such as found in the Portland and ashington County. The ALS group is a team of highly trained individuals that provide more advanced medical care to patients while they are in transit and their training exceeds that of an EMT for example. Generally these teams are composed of three individuals that include a standard paramedic, a critical care paramedic, and an emergency care practitioner (FCEMS, N.d.):

Paramedic (EMT-P) - Paramedics are licensed individuals who can perform tasks beyond that of an EMT. These tasks include: cardiac monitoring, intubation, and administering IV medications.

Critical Care Paramedic (CCEMTP) - Critical care paramedics are similar to paramedics except that they are certified to provide more care to patients in critical conditions. Through their training, they….

Transformational leaders have the innate ability to motivate their team members by the vision of what they are trying to accomplish together (Hur, van den Berg, Wilderom, 591). Leaders at this level also show through personal effort why sacrificing for a goal is worth it (Pryor, Oyler, Humphreys, Toombs, 18). Contrasting my own leadership style, I have learned that being able to provide subordinates with an opportunity to take on a task their own way, master it, and find purpose in it is a major step in the right direction. The concepts of autonomy, mastery and purpose as the core of motivation is what I am working to achieve today as a leader. I am also on the journey to being a better leader on this dimension as well, working to show that sacrificing for a long-term goal is worth it.
Conclusion

Leadership is a skill set that must be continually….

EMS single-tier response (ST) or a multi-Tier response (MT) is optimal for a community?
While EMS are present in every community, each community has different needs and the response of the EMS should be tailored in a community-specific fashion. For example, some communities are far more dependent upon EMS to provide critical services because of their demographics. A large city such as New York will often have more critical incidents due to violence or safety hazards. Also, the logistics of mobility within a city can mean that a single-tiered response (ST) is more appropriate. At the other extreme, a rural area, because of a lack of medical resources such as nearby hospitals, can also benefit from a ST, given that aspects of primary care and treatment may need to be given immediately on the scene due to the lack of available resources at point of care. In terms of a….

Crisis administrations have one or more committed crisis phone numbers saved for basic crisis calls. In other countries, one number is utilized for all the crisis administrations. However, every crisis administration has its own defined crisis number in very few countries (Whyte, 2002).
Portrayal

In the same way as Emergency Service, firefighter experts are vital to groups everywhere in the country. They are crucial to the principal mission of any Navy. In boats, submarines, airplane and weapons of numerous sorts, risk is a characteristic part of the occupation. If it is ordinary work or continuous missions, conditions might be unpredictable and valuable lives and unreasonable gear are always at stake (egehr & Bober, 2007). As part of the emergency response group, an emergency responder will be there to forestall mishaps and to stabilize the scenario in case of an incident. No professional is obliged to wind up part of the fire….

Medication Errors
One of the major challenges impact healthcare providers is medical errors. These issues are challenging, as they will have an adverse impact on quality and safety. In the case of the ICU, these challenges are becoming more pronounced. This is because of the different conditions and large number of patients they are working with. A good example of this can be seen with insights from Orgeas (2010) who said, "Although intensive care units (ICUs) were created for patients with life-threatening illnesses, the ICU environment generates a high risk of iatrogenic events. Identifying medical errors (MEs) that serve as indicators for iatrogenic risk is crucial for purposes of reporting and prevention. We describe the selection of indicator MEs, the incidence of such MEs, and their relationship with mortality. We selected indicator MEs using Delphi techniques. An observational prospective multicenter cohort study of these MEs was conducted from March 27 to….

But there will also be situations where clinicians are asked to discuss with a patient whether they want to or should have resuscitation if they have had a cardiac arrest or life-threatening arrhythmia. The potential likelihood for clinical benefit in accordance with the patient's preferences for intervention and its likely outcome, involves careful consideration, as with many other medical decisions, in deciding whether or not to resuscitate a patient who suffers a cardiopulmonary arrest. Therefore, decisions to forego cardiac resuscitation are often difficult.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CP) is a set of specific medical procedures designed to establish circulation and breathing in a patient who's suffered an arrest of both. CP is a supportive therapy, designed to maintain perfusion to vital organs while attempts are made to restore spontaneous breathing and cardiac rhythm (Braddock 2).

The standard of care is to perform CP in the absence of a valid physician's order to withhold….

organizational culture and diversity helps me to understand my current workplace and the issues we face. All organizational theories provide some insight into the organization, with diversity theories and organizational culture and management theories being especially relevant because we are a small company with a diverse workforce. In spite of the tremendous benefit and opportunities presented by diversity in the workplace, I do not see that our current owner/chief executive understands well enough how to capitalize on diversity. The chapter on diversity in the text points out how diversity management is fast becoming a critical management strategy not just because of ethics and social justice, but also because diversity is good for business.
A business-focused diversity management strategy would help our small private ambulance/paramedic company improve our branding, attract a broader clientele, and expand the business. Equally as important, a cohesive diversity management strategy would help our company retain top….

One of the paramedics was Latina, and she translated; the female (Ms. Garcia) was married to the suspect but says she divorced him last year due to his violent episodes and his drinking and drug use, according to the translation from the Paramedic.
Witness Report:

"A neighbor in a nearby apartment knocked on the door and said she had witnessed the female being harmed by the suspect more than once. The witness, Alice Mercado, 27, bilingual and employed as a maid in a nearby motel, said she had heard fighting coming from the apartment in the past on many occasions. Sometimes she was afraid to come to see what was happening because the suspect was unpredictable and explosively violent when under the influence of alcohol and crack cocaine, she said. She told this officer that she once had a relationship with the suspect prior to his marriage to her neighbor. She….

King County, WAshignton
Emergency Medical Service (EMS)

"Measure and improve" is the motto that drives King County EMS

Demographics of the System

King County, Washington - Overview

Service Area

Population Density

Economic Indicators from Census Data

Structural Attributes of the EMS System

Geographic Scope

Standard Setting and Enforcement

Division of Functions

Market Allocation

Failure to Perform -- Consequences

Business Structure

Management Level

King County EMS System Outputs

Prevention and Early Dectection

Bystander Action and System Access

911 Call Taking

First esponse Dispatch and Services

Ambulance Services

eceiving Facility Interface

Medical Oversight

HallMarks of HPEMS

Accountability

Independent Oversight

Accounting of Service Costs

System Features that Ensure Economic Efficiency

System Features that Ensure Long-Term High Performance

King County EMS Performance Measures

Clinical Level 22

Esponse Time STandard 22

Cost Per Transport 25

Cost Per Unit Hour 25

Unit Hour Utilization 26

System Cost Per-Capita 26

Subsidy Per-Captia 26

Conclusion 27

eferences 29

Appendix 32

Demographics of the System

King County, Washington - Overview

King County, Washington is the most populace county in the state of Washington as well as in the top 15 most populated counties in the United States (13th). The county has a….

Emergency management is also a vital part to the planning for a disaster. Training will have to be conducted at periodic intervals to maintain the preparedness of the emergency response team and to evaluate the condition and the operational difficulties if any that may arise due to the equipment being used. The procedures will have to be critiqued and constantly evaluated to determine if a better, safer or more efficient method can be used in the procedure. A clean up task force will also have to be set up to help clean and restore the area to as near as possible, its pre-disaster state. Sufficient funds will have to be allocated to keep the emergency response team properly outfitted. An emergency fund may also be required to be set up to take care of the clean up activities that may be required. This fund would have to be very liquid….