Challenges Facing The Paramedic Profession Essay
Challenges Facing The Paramedic Profession Essay
Question:
Answer:
The Paramedic Profession Is One Of The Most Dangerous Occupations In Australia. Discuss The Challenges.
A paramedic is a medical professional who provides healthcare to individuals who are predominantly found in out of the hospital and pre-hospital environments and these situations are mainly emergency situations like in ambulances as part of emergency medical services (EMS). They are the most highly trained class of emergency medical technician working in the emergency medical field. The width of the scope of roles of paramedics differ from country to country but what is common for all of them is that they have the power to make autonomous decisions on regard to the giving emergency care to patients (Waxmanand Williams2015). Challenges Facing The Paramedic Profession Essay.
In some countries like Australia, paramedicshave professional bodies who represent their interests as they perform their duties. The Australian body is referred to as Paramedics Australasia. Each year, these paramedics respond more than three million emergency medical assistance calls. According to a report by Safe Work Australia (SWA), paramedics have the sixth highest level of injuries that occur while they are carrying out their duties and also they have the sixth highest reports and claims in men for mental stress (Williams, Onsman and Brown 2010). This shows that paramedics in Australia face a variety of challenges while carrying out their duties but there are also remedies to these challenges and this essay will name both of these issues.
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When paramedics are called upon they have a variety of roles to perform. They are majorly responding to medical and trauma situations. These emergency calls can include responding to illnesses such as labor and delivery, heart attacks and severe allergic reaction. Thus, the paramedics will give the patients various medications in an effort to soothe their symptoms as they are being transported to the hospital. They can be required to first when they arrive at the scene of the emergency to evaluate the health situations of the patients so that they can know what step to take next (Lazarsfeld-Jensen, Bridgesand Loftus2011). They can also give people who have their airways blocked by performing emergency respiratory procedures. Next, when people get injured these paramedics can bandage their wounds. At times people can suffer serious injuries from accidents to their heads and necks and paramedics are called in to stabilize their head and necks injuries and time to stabilize the broken bones that patients might suffer. They also have the duty to give medications to patients once they find out what their ailment is and they can also give the patients intravenous (IV) fluids. They also have the skills to resuscitate victims who have drowned. Challenges Facing The Paramedic Profession Essay. Finally, they help victims of heart attacks by performing cardiac support and can also aid in the emergency delivery of babies for women in labor (Perkins et.at, 2015, pp.950). For them to
Just like any other profession, the role of a paramedic comes with certain challenges. Many people ask me “how physically demanding is being a paramedic?” and some people (quite frankly), don’t like my response when I tell them that it’s a highly demanding and physical role. But, generally the sense of fulfilment that comes with the job provides comfort and security regardless of the challenges. If you’ve decided to become a paramedic, you’ve chosen a worthy cause. Typically, the paramedics enjoy what they do, helping to save lives and giving hope to hopeless situations.
Working as a Paramedic
At any accident or emergency scene, the paramedics are usually the first healthcare professionals to arrive. They are the senior ambulance service experts at any emergency. A paramedic is usually one of the two-person ambulance crew, with the second crew member serving as ambulance assistance. Challenges Facing The Paramedic Profession Essay. At the scene of an accident or other forms of health-related emergency, a paramedic will assess the situation and determine the appropriate treatment to be given to the victim prior to getting to the hospital. Any decision has to be taken quickly and in a calculative manner. Therefore, a paramedic must be well trained and possessing special skills and characteristics which have been outlined in our previous article.
Now, what are the challenges and current paramedic issues being tackled on a day-to-day basis?
Challenges of Being a Paramedic
In the course of discharging their duty, paramedics do not only handle patients, but also have to deal with members of the public or relatives of the patient. This can be quite challenging as some of these people may behave in certain unruly manners . Some of the people present on the scene of emergency could be drunk or violent, while others may show uncontrollable outbursts of emotion. The paramedics have to deal with all these situations and bring calmness along with the policemen in the course of discharging their duties. Indeed, the job of a paramedic is physically demanding, whether in the aspect of trying to revive patients or dealing with a third party.
Current Issues in Paramedic Practice
Also, the ambulance crew is often vulnerable to physical and verbal abuse in the course of discharging their duty. The frequent exposure to physical and verbal abuse is directly associated with the increasing rate of alcohol-related call-outs. Challenges Facing The Paramedic Profession Essay.
Impact on Social Life – Current Paramedic Issues
Also, another major area of challenge in working as a paramedic is the social life that is likely to be impacted. Since a paramedic can be called upon at any time, there is hardly time for a social life, especially when working weekend shifts and night shifts. However, the leave period can help make up (a little) for the time lost for unsocial hours.
Luckily, a paramedic is sufficiently prepared to cope with every aspect of the job. This is also why you must possess certain qualities in addition to the required qualifications before you can be employed as a paramedic.
It’s also great to know that help is provided to assist a paramedic in coping with the challenging aspects of the job. For instance, counseling, chaplaincy as well as debriefing systems have been put in place. Also, further courses for managing stress are available. Do not hesitate to take advantage of any of these helpful facilities, if and when the need arises. Challenges Facing The Paramedic Profession Essay.
