PMED1410 Assessment and Treatment of Sick and Injured Patients, Part 1 Course description

The introductory part of the subject deals with how a wide range of diseases and injuries alter cells and tissues, and how this manifests as changes in the functions of tissues, organs, and the body as a whole. As the course progresses, the focus shifts to acute disease processes and injuries that can cause organ dysfunction, how this is detected through robust examinations, and how it is treated.

A paramedic must have knowledge of clinical examination, patient history-taking and documentation related to emergency medical conditions and must be able to make sound assessments and decisions related to ill and injured patients’ priority, treatment and transport needs. The course provides an introduction to tentative diagnostics and emergency medical intervention and is based on recommendations given by surgical, medical, anaesthetic, and paramedical professional environments regarding treatment measures.

The course is normally taught in English, but can be taught in Norwegian if no English-speaking students are taking the course.

The student must have been admitted to the study programme.

After completing the course, the student should have the following learning outcomes defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge

The student

• can explain the most common diseases that may require medical or surgical treatment, focusing on symptoms, signs and findings, disease progression, and treatment in children and adults
• can describe the most common tests and examinations used to diagnose disease
• can describe various drug groups for the most common internal medicine diseases and diseases requiring surgery, with emphasis on effects, possible side effects, and interactions
• can describe diseases of the musculoskeletal system
• can describe common electrolyte disturbances and related symptoms
• can explain injury mechanisms, kinetics and assessment of energy transfer
• can explain methods of clinical examination and explain the connection between tentative diagnostics and treatment interventions
• can explain the most common acute injuries and illnesses
• can explain how ageing can affect the development and treatment of emergency medical conditions
• can explain how different work methods, interventions and medical equipment are to be used in different emergency medical situations
• can explain drug use for emergency medical conditions
• can explain medical emergency decision-making and choice of treatment and transport strategies
• can refer to legislation linked to the disclosure and reporting obligation, duty to act and notice of death
• can describe the background for documentation with patient care report forms
• can discuss when specialist assistance is required
• is familiar with further need for clinical examination and treatment for different illness and injury conditions so that patients can be sorted into categories based on the best effective level of care principle
• can explain relevant research in the paramedical domain
• can explain the connection between symptoms and emergency medical conditions and injuries
• can explain the principles of documentation and use of patient care report forms
• can explain the principles of prehospital pain management

Skills

The student

• can use reference works such as the Felleskatalogen and the Drug Handbook
• can work with relevant infection control clothing and handle infectious materials
• can apply professional knowledge in written presentations
• is proficient in treatment methods for respiratory disorders, oxygenation failure, and ventilation failure, including non-invasive ventilation
• can perform an independent systematic clinical examination and then implement interventions and choose work methods in cooperation with a fellow student
• can use relevant medical equipment in assessment, perform clinical assessment and treatment
• can record and interpret an electrocardiogram (ECG) and explain the correlation with the patient’s condition
• can perform essential airway measures, including manual manoeuvres, use of simple aids, mask ventilation, and use of supraglottic tools
• masters the use of equipment to remove foreign body objects, such as Magill’s forceps and laryngoscope
• can carry out advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation in adults (Advanced Life Support - ALS)
• can assess the risk of complications and implement preventive and treatment measures, also in cooperation with other healthcare workers´
• can assess the treatment level a patient is to be transported to
• can take and document a patient’s case history, and carry out and document clinical examinations and interventions
• can document a clinical examination
• can administer prehospital pain management in accordance with recognised principles

General competence

The student

• can reflect on how knowledge of the most common diseases and causes of health failure is central to the practice of paramedicine
• understands how disease, poisoning, and injuries manifest through vital signs and symptoms
• can plan and complete work tasks linked to tentative diagnosis and intervention in patients in the most important emergency conditions, diseases and injuries
• can apply clinical guidelines and scholarly articles within the emergency medical domain
• can explain how the medical condition / trauma condition, different health institutions’ treatment capacity, transportation distance and modes of transport affect the choice of prehospital resources and transport destination

The work and teaching methods vary between lectures, seminars, study groups, self-study and simulation and skills training.

Simulation and skills training comprise systematic patient assessment, decision-making and treatment, advance cardiopulmonary resuscitation/ALS (adult), systematic interpretation of electrocardiography (ECG) and the use of monitoring equipment. In addition, students undergo training in different skills such as airway management, intraosseous infusion, haemorrhage control, burns and caustic injuries, thoracic injuries, managing fractures and CNS-injuries etc.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• Minimum attendance of 80% in student groups
• Minimum attendance of 90% in simulation and skills training
• Minimum attendance of 80% at seminar and workshop
• Multiple-choice questions, 60% correct answers on digital multiple-choice questions.
• Written assignment in groups of up to three students, 2,000 words (+/- 10%)
• Individual practical test in the simulation and skills centre. Procedures from all topics reviewed in the simulation and skills centre can be included in the test.

Supervised individual written exam, 6 hours

None.

Grade scale A-F.

All answers are assessed by two examiners. An external examiner is used regularly, at a minimum of every third completion of the course. When selecting answers for external evaluation, a minimum of 10 percent of the answers shall be included, with no fewer than 5 answers. The external examiner’s assessment of the selected answers shall benefit all students.

• 15 credits overlap with the course PARA2000 Emergency Medicine A
• 5 credits overlap with the course PARA2200 Prehospital Trauma Care
• 15 credits overlap with the course PMED1400 Assessment and Treatment of Acute Sick and Injured Patients, Part 1
• 5 credits overlap with the course PMED1200 Pathology