PMED2010 Ambulance Operations Course description

Ambulance Operations mainly covers the planning, organisation, implementation and evaluation of ambulance jobs, including the management and organisation of other health care resources and cooperation and interaction with other emergency agencies or partners. The course focuses on the structure and organisation of the rescue services in Norway, own safety, patient safety, critical missions, use of communication equipment, and general incident site work.

The student must have passed the first year of the programme or equivalent, except the second part of the exam in drug calculations in the course PMED1300.

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 describe the structure and organisation of the rescue service in Norway and the health services of the armed forces.
• can explain how the ambulance service, including the emergency medical communication centre (AMK), is organised.
• can explain how health operational management is organised, and account for the functions and working methods of key leadership roles in the prehospital health service.
• can describe how collaborating actors are organised and led at the incident site.
• can recognise missions with specific operational challenges.
• can describe what is classified as hazardous goods and dangerous substances (CBRNE), and how to handle these in an ambulance operational context.
• can describe the use of risk analysis in emergency preparedness work and challenges related to patient safety in operational work.
• can describe how to conduct triage in mass casualty situations.
• can explain the role of the health service in total defence.
• can describe potential decision traps in operational work.
• can explain the role of technological innovation and development in equality, justice, sustainable development, and societal participation.
• can describe how technological infrastructures shape and support society and the welfare state.
• is familiar with the levels in the S-pyramid and can describe the difference between individual studies and syntheses of studies, such as systematic reviews, qualitative and quantitative studies, and knows how to use checklists for different study designs, clinical guidelines, and professional procedures.

Skills

The student

• can apply knowledge of laws, regulations, and guidelines related to work at the incident site and collaboration with other agencies.
• can apply principles for leading the health service’s efforts in the early phase of incident site work.
• can plan, lead, and organise the health service’s efforts at an incident site.
• can exercise situational leadership and contribute to cooperation with other health resources, emergency services, and partners in incident site work.
• can apply basic models for decision-making in operational work and describe potential decision traps in operational work.
• can master digital radio communication in interaction with relevant actors.
• can plan, lead, and organise the health service’s efforts at an incident site.
• can apply knowledge of operational challenges and the use of relevant equipment.
• can conduct a risk assessment and implement measures to ensure the health and safety of oneself, the patient, and others.
• can act responsibly at a crime scene when there is suspicion of criminal activity.
• can apply critical and analytical strategies to evaluate and critically discuss the opportunities and challenges of existing and potential technologies, and interpret the processes where information and misinformation are distinguished, communicated, and used in various contexts.
• can formulate searchable professional/clinical questions using, for example, PICO and variations of PICO, and plan and conduct a simple, systematic search strategy for professional/clinical questions from the top of the S-pyramid.

General competence

The student

• can contribute to preventive emergency preparedness work, evaluation, and follow-up of their own personnel after incidents and exercises.
• can exchange experiences and share their own expertise to contribute to the planning, organisation, and execution of comprehensive health services.
• can discuss key sustainability challenges and the potential impact of new technologies and digitalisation processes at both individual and societal levels.
• can understand how digitalisation and digital technologies enable and shape interdisciplinary collaboration and can communicate concepts and models related to the use of technology in a structured manner.
• can explain the importance of user knowledge, experiential knowledge, and summarised research in clinical decision-making and the importance of user-oriented perspectives in the use and development of technology.
• can discuss ethical, social, and political challenges that arise at the intersection of technology and society.
• can investigate relevant and real-world issues from multiple perspectives and critically assess health claims in the media.
• can identify targeted knowledge-based preventive measures to reduce the incidence of serious accidents and injuries.

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

The students´ complete simulation and skills training in the use of relevant communication equipment, ICT equipment linked to operational factors, standard operating procedures´ (SOPs´), and leadership, triage and decision-making.

The following must have been approved in order for the student to take the exam:

• Minimum attendance of 80% in student groups.
• Minimum attendance of 90% in simulation and skills training, including exercises

Individual written home exam over two weeks, 3000 words (+/- 10 %)

The point of departure for the course is the scientific and humanistic basis for well-functioning health care services and paramedical professional practice. The course will particularly focus on knowledge and skills that promote respect, empathy, reflection and relational competence. Practical training in interaction, basic infection control and lifesaving first aid are part of the course. The course also emphasises learning in an academic context, and written and oral presentation.

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 describe the history of emergency medicine, the professional tradition, and their own profession
• can explain the structure of the healthcare system and the ambulance service’s place within it
• can refer to relevant laws, regulations, and rules that govern the healthcare service and the paramedic profession
• can recount the basic theories of good hygiene
• can explain basic ethical and communicative theories and perspectives relevant to professional practice
• can describe the purpose of patient safety, public health work, and the Public Health Act
• can describe the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and their significance for public health
• can describe the basic concepts, mechanisms, and tools behind digitalisation
• can describe how digitalisation shapes public and private life
• can describe simulation and skills training as a method
• can describe basic decision-making models
• can explain what evidence-based practice (EBP) is, describe the steps in the EBP model, and identify the characteristics of a scientific article (e.g., IMRAD)
• can explain the basic principles of life-saving first aid

Skills

The student

• can perform life-saving first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation with a semi-automatic defibrillator (DHLR)
• can apply basic hygienic and infection prevention techniques, including the use of protective gloves, proper handwashing, and hand disinfection
• can write reflection notes from observation practice
• can process and apply relevant research in written presentations
• can describe how the paramedic can contribute to patient safety, preventive, and health-promoting work

General competence

The student

• can reflect on relevant issues in prehospital work and the student role in the healthcare system
• can reflect on the social, ethical, and political consequences of technological change and provide examples of local and global technological differences, both generally and in relation to their field
• can communicate and collaborate with fellow students and others in teams/groups
• can reflect on ethical and communicative challenges related to professional practice
• can identify their own knowledge and learning needs and acquire new knowledge and skills

The work and teaching methods on the programme comprise lectures, seminars, group work in student groups of five to eight students, observational practice and simulation and skills training.

The students will take part in a two to three-day long observational practice in the ambulance service. The students also carry out simulation and skills training in lifesaving first aid.