Edition 41, December 2006

New paramedic course an Australian first

Twenty paramedics from the Queensland Ambulance Service are about to begin the new Graduate Certificate of Rural and Remote Paramedic Practice to help boost health services in isolated Queensland communities.

The initiative is the first of its kind in Australia and is part of a Queensland Government commitment to explore an expanded scope of practice for Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics working in rural and remote areas.

The course is new ground for the Queensland Ambulance Service and is a key part of efforts to look for better ways to maximise the clinical expertise of paramedics who work in rural and remote communities across Queensland.

The establishment of this qualification will enable 60 paramedics over three years to develop an extended scope of practice to isolated communities in Queensland, providing greater assistance to rural doctors and remote area nurses in the community where they live and work.

The development of the course was undertaken in partnership with the James Cook University Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health and the North Queensland Workforce Unit of Queensland Health.

After completion of the course, the paramedics will be classified as isolated practice paramedics. The course will:

  • equip graduates with contemporary skills, knowledge and abilities to complement the isolated health teams
  • help paramedics working in isolated communities to integrate their pre-hospital emergency care knowledge with low acuity community care
  • equip paramedics to examine their own community
  • give graduates an understanding of international and national health strategies
  • provide them with a range of skills, drugs and understanding that equips graduates to assist the health team to develop localised strategies.

For more information visit James Cook University's website at www.jcu.edu.au/fmhms

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