Series of extreme scenarios challenge Rozelle paramedic students
The decision-making and communication skills of paramedic students based at the University of Tasmania’s Rozelle campus in Sydney are being put to the test in a series of realistic scenarios around NSW.
Twenty seven first- and second-year Bachelor of Paramedic Practice students, working with Ambulance Service of NSW and other emergency services personnel, were challenged in a recent two-day exercise called Xtreme2, held at Charles Sturt University campus at Albury.
The realistic scenarios involved a severe burns victim, a fatal car crash with multiple victims, a heart attack victim, a mental health crisis and a minor trauma patient.
These inter-agency exercises form an integral component of paramedic educator Sharon White’s PhD research. “This is a very important aspect of their training because they learn contingency planning and clinical decision-making in scenarios that are safe without actually putting any patients at risk,” she told Prime7 News. (Second-year student Sarah Mead, the president of the Student Paramedic Association at the UTAS Rozelle campus, was also interviewed.)
Two weeks after the Albury exercise, Rozelle students took part in a Marine Xtreme exercise in Coffs Harbour with local emergency services and drama students from a local high school. The day featured a water rescue utilising members of the NSW Water Police, local SES and Rural Fire Brigade in a multi-vehicle crash, a beach rescue of a heart attack victim and a mental health crisis.
“These simulation events are extraordinarily beneficial for our paramedic students to work alongside qualified paramedics and emergency services personnel,” says the coordinator of the Sydney Paramedic Practice Program, Dr Paula McMullen.
Dr McMullen and Ms White are planning another exercise to take place in Newcastle in November.
See the video:
http://www.utas.edu.au/channel-utas/