Trauma on the Border 2022

As we continue to lead the way forward in the evolution of the paramedicine profession, Trauma on the Borders 2022 theme of "Driving professional change" showcases the latest developments in paramedic practice, current research, and a host of speakers and presentations catering to the priorities and needs of paramedics of all levels, from students to on-road paramedics, intensive and extended care paramedics, flight and mobile paramedics, paramedic educators and academics, and senior managers.

Trauma and Pre-Registration (University) Education Panel

Universities are now almost universally the source of the paramedic workforce in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. Trauma education has traditionally been a core element of paramedic training, historically linked to the profession’s origins in first aid, industrial and mining incidents, and motor vehicle accidents. However, universities are under increasing pressure to add a wider range of teaching to their programs to address the evolving areas of paramedicine. One of the challenges for universities is to create and implement curricula that is reflective of the needs of the industry, mirrors real-world practice and patient load, and meets the increasingly tight resource and time constraints of universities. This panel addresses a range of issues related to pre-registration university education in trauma.

• Are universities producing graduates who meet the needs of employers in terms of their trauma education?

• Are universities' resources adequate for the often time-consuming elements of trauma skills training?

• With a reduction in major trauma in the paramedic workload due to a range of improved safety standards and engineering (such as airbags, road design, increased policing, better workplace health and safety, automation in production) does this make trauma less relevant to paramedic education or potentially more relevant due to the low occurrence but high-acuity nature of major trauma?

• What is the role of employers in helping prepare new entrants to the profession to enable them to effectively manage trauma?

• How should universities balance major trauma (such as multi-system trauma, serious head injuries, penetrating trauma) with more routine trauma (such as isolated orthopaedic injury) versus sub-acute trauma (skin tears, minor wounds, etc.)?

• How should universities adapt to new developments in trauma education and trauma practice, as well as emerging types of trauma?

Biographies:

Vivienne Tippett

Professor Vivienne Tippett is the Discipline Leader Paramedic Programs at QUT. Prior to joining QUT in 2012, she was the Director of the Australian Centre for Prehospital Research at QAS. She has extensive experience as a researcher and consultant in the emergency pre-hospital, health and emergency health systems and is widely published. Her work has been recognised with an OAM for services to para-medical education (2018); a Distinguished Service medal from QAS (2012) for services to paramedic research and a CRC Association national award for research innovation (2019). She is a Fellow of the Jamieson Trauma Institute at RBWH.

Andy Bell

Andy has an extensive history in clinical education, paramedicine, higher education and clinical research. He has over 20 years’ experience in various forms of educational formats, including outdoor education, clinical education, tactical medicine, search and rescue and educational design. He is a registered paramedic with Aphra and has worked in a variety of unscheduled clinical environments including a jurisdictional ambulance service, tactical training organisations, event medical services and private consultancy roles for the past 14 years. He is currently a confirmed PhD candidate looking at deconstructing the contemporary Paramedic education paradigm and building frameworks for the evolution of professional Paramedicine into the future. He holds a Masters degree in clinical education and has a number of published journal articles addressing various aspects of Paramedic education. His other research interests include investigating the nexus between physiological, psychological and sociological variables and their impact on quality of performance and operator well-being in high stress, time critical occupations.

Dr Jason Bendall

Dr Jason Bendall is a specialist anaesthetist, specialist paramedic and specialist prehospital & retrieval medicine physician. Jason works clinically as an anaesthetist at one of Australia’s busiest trauma hospitals with subspecialty interest in orthopaedic trauma. Jason is NSW Ambulances Director of Medical Service & Research and is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health.

Sandy MacQuarrie

Alex (Sandy) MacQuarrie is a transplanted Canadian trained to the level of Critical Care Paramedic (flight). He has worked in paramedicine since 1993 in urban, rural, and remote environments including HEMS and senior management positions. He has a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Business Administration and has completed a PhD. Currently, he is Senior Lecturer at the School of Medicine at Griffith University on the Gold Coast. He also has over 20 years as a firefighter in suburban and rural settings in three Canadian provinces and one Australian state.

Moderated by: Buck Reed Lecturer in Paramedicine, Western Sydney University