MILITARY PHARMACY AND MEDICINE

© Military Pharmacy and Medicine • 2012 • 4 • 52 – 562) shortening the time to reach the injuredpatients;3) establishing specialist centers for the treatmentof such injuries. Following the deliveryof patients with multi-organ injuries to thenearest hospital, the care of these patientsis taken over by emergency care units inhospital emergency wards. These are multidisciplinaryteams of physicians, nursesand paramedics, who perform a wide-scalediagnostics of the patient. According to theBritish physicians, this allows to provideaid in a timely manner and avoids potentialomission of any procedural stage, thusleading to fast initiation of causal treatment.Paramedics are independent individuals workingby themselves or in groups with patients ofall ages, depending of their professional competence.They are the main members of interdisciplinaryteams who belong to different organizations.Successful performance of one’s duties asa paramedic requires identification and understandingof social and economical conditions ofpatients. This helps in planning, providing andimproving medical care.Paramedics’ duties are classified according to afive-grade system including the following grades:——Emergency Medical Technician (EMT);——Paramedic;——Paramedic Practitioner (incl. EmergencyMedicine Practitioner);——Advanced Paramedic Practitioner;——Consultant Paramedic.The term “paramedic” and its meaning are subjectto legal protection. Career development is a lifelongconcept. In-service training creates basis forthe development of college-level training methods.Paramedics are capable of acting upon first contactwith the patient without seeking help fromother healthcare professionals. They are alsoresponsible for the quality of care they provide topatients by adhering to principles and applyingmedical knowledge in their practice.Paramedics of all grades should:1) have the knowledge and understanding ofchanges occurring in the human body fromneonatal to elderly age;Review article2) be capable of delivering aid to individualsand groups in a wide variety of situations,including aid in acute, primary and criticalcare conditions presenting complex andvariable problems as resulting from multipathologydisorders and injuries;3) be capable to combine theoretical knowledgewith practical skills and to develop problemsolving schemes;4) be able of critical self-assessment anddrawing appropriate conclusions;5) be able to apply clinical examinations andcase studies in their paramedical practicein order to provide patients with optimumcare;6) be able to work in teams and cooperate withother professionals;7) be able to understand patient’s autonomy,internal reservations and rights as well as beable of providing support to patients;8) be capable of referring the patient to a centerof appropriate reference level in case thepatient’s needs are beyond the paramedic’scapabilities.Differences in the training programsof technicians and paramedicsin the United KingdomThe requirement for the training of techniciansand paramedics are different. Part of the trainingis provided in ambulances and part is providedin hospitals; the training also includes a masterdegreeprogram.The candidates go through an intensive initialtraining of about 12 weeks, including classes onanatomy, physiology, intensive care and ambulancedriving. The theoretical part of the trainingis prepared by the Institute of Health Care Development(IHCD).The clinical care is provided by technicians andparamedics in line with national clinical protocols(procedural standards). These are translatedinto local protocols which may be approved bylocal committees of hospital consultants, familypractitioners, pharmacists, senior emergencyservice managers supervised by medical emergencyexecutives. The list of skills and the list ofdrugs that can be administered by technicians isprovided in schedule A.52 http://military.isl-journals.com