A fresh Friday morning in Melbourne set the scene for the 4th annual Student Paramedics Australasia conference in Melbourne this August, with over 150 aspiring paramedics from all over Australia arriving at the William Angliss Institute for a day of insight and inspiration into elements of the paramedic profession. Greeted on arrival by the friendly SPA committee members handing out exciting show bags jam packed full of useful items the day was already off to a great start well before the opening address.
Shared amongst Alan Eade, Pauline Murcott and Tony Walker, this year’s opening address bestowed a sense of occasion upon this annual conference and an entertaining introduction from the SPA Director, Pauline “Cottee” Murcott, managed to get students warmed up and ready for the guest speakers to follow.
The first of the day’s sessions was delivered by Professor Peter Cameron, the Academic Director of the Emergency and Trauma Centre at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and head of the Prehospital, Emergency and Trauma Group within the Department of Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine (DPEM) at Monash University. This session was heavily focussed on the advances in prehospital medicine and provided an insight into just how far paramedicine has progressed, and will continue to progress in the coming years in relation to service provision and skill sets for paramedics in Australia. Professor Cameron’s presentation allowed student paramedics an opportunity to increase their understanding of the way in which paramedicine is viewed by other healthcare professionals external to the paramedic profession.
Mr Ray Bange, the national Policy Advisor to Paramedics Australasia followed on from the first session with an engaging discussion regarding the national perspective in relation to paramedic registration. Some of the key messages to come out of this presentation included that registration of paramedics in Australia in some manner is inevitable therefore, making it essential for paramedics and aspiring paramedics to embrace the issue of national registration by becoming educated about the issue and effecting positive change. It was also highlighted that national registration of paramedics in Australia is not only for the convenience and monitoring of paramedics but that it is also an issue of patient safety requiring consistent national standards. Many of the pros and cons of national registration were discussed during Mr Bange’s presentation and in the interactive panel discussion which provided a balanced perspective on what national registration really means for paramedics in the future.
The final presenter to wrap up the morning session was Joe Acker, Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of the postgraduate leadership and intensive care paramedic courses at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst, New South Wales. Joe provided a sobering and thought provoking presentation on the paramedic perspective of multiple murder in the line of duty. To underpin his discussion of this issue Joe related his personal experience as the attending medic in the “Mayerthorpe Tragedy” in Canada 2005 where four Royal Canadian Mounted Police were shot and killed before the killer turned the gun on himself. For a number of the conference delegates aspiring to work as paramedics in rural Victoria this was a powerful presentation that highlighted many of the challenges of working within a small community where everyone knows everyone and close friendships are forged between emergency services personnel. Joe left delegates with a number of take home messages which centred on self-care and communication with colleagues during and after a major incident such as a death in the line of duty. Perhaps one of the most valuable points that can be incorporated into every day paramedic practice was the message of “be nice” not only to your colleagues but also to your patients, their relatives and the general community.
Following such an informative and riveting morning conference delegates were provided with a healthy and tasty lunch to prepare them for the afternoon session and the fantastic Youngcare Charity Raffle. Every year at the SPA conference the Youngcare Charity Raffle proves to be a highlight for conference delegates. With proceeds from the raffle going towards providing support for young people with 24 hour high care needs with the aim of improving their quality of life. This year the charity raffle included some great prizes which included Ambulance Victoria fixed wing and MICA placements, PA conference registrations, and an Apple iPad along with an assortment of paramedic goodies. Conference delegates and the SPA committee managed to raise $3500 in the Youngcare Charity Raffle this year, an exemplary effort for all to be commended on.
The afternoon session kicked off with a bang, as Nick Roder related some impressive facts and figures relating to emergency intubation by MICA flight paramedics in Victoria. Nick has spent 10 years as a MICA flight paramedic and is involved with educating student paramedics of all year levels which has earned him a reputation as a passionate and entertaining lecturer. The 100% intubation success rate for MICA flight paramedics and the 97.8% intubation success rate for all Victorian MICA paramedics is an achievement that all paramedics within Australia can be proud of as it validates this intervention within the paramedic skill set yet again. Surrounding these figures Nick included discussion on the education background and the average length of service of many of the MICA flight paramedics in Victoria. This provided some inspiration for student paramedics as to what it takes to become a MICA flight paramedic with Nick’s advice to all aspiring paramedics “… to be prepared for being a lifelong learner”.
The next session continued the theme of practicalities of paramedic practice and was presented by the ever entertaining Alan Eade. Alan is an intensive care paramedic and registered nurse with a considerable interest in the pre-hospital management of substance use. He has presented at a number of SPA conferences in previous years and every year he manages to get delegates laughing with his antics, whilst still managing to impart the kind of essential information a paramedic requires to be a good practitioner but is unable to learn from a textbook. As always Alan made this an interactive session which grabbed the attention of all conference delegates and was thoroughly enjoyed by those present. The title of Alan’s presentation was “Things I wish I knew before I started” and allowed student paramedics an opportunity to learn about some of the wonderful and sometimes not-so-wonderful challenges likely to be faced during their career. On a similar note to Joe Acker’s advice Alan emphasised the need for good self-care and looking out for your colleagues during periods of high stress as such simple actions can be the difference between a long and healthy career as a paramedic or a potentially short and troubled career.
Presenting a session on the model of escalation Mr Tony Angus provided a wealth of knowledge unable to be gleaned from a textbook. Through the use of a short video clip Tony was able to discuss potential triggers for patients, their relatives and for paramedics in the pre-hospital environment and discussion naturally turned to ways in which to recognise and deescalate some of these behaviours in the future. Tony has spent 6 years as a weapons and tactics instructor for Victoria Police and has a significant pool of knowledge to draw on in the discussion of conflict management. Above all, the key message in Tony’s presentation was to keep yourself and your partner safe through the use of good communication strategies, some advice which all paramedics can benefit from.
Last but definitely not the least, was Professor Malcolm Woollard’s presentation which used a series of case studies to demonstrate the importance of learning from the mistakes of others. Professor Woollard is the UK’s first (and currently only) Professor of Pre-hospital and Emergency Care and has an extensive list of qualifications and experience under his belt which made all delegates sit straight and pay attention. Conference delegates were taken off the beaten path with an opportunity to learn about the role of an expert witness in complaints management and quality improvement. This was an exceptionally engaging presentation which demonstrated that in the pre-hospital environment there is often a significant amount of room for individual clinician errors and systemic errors to become readily apparent. The use of an obstetrics case study provided a great opportunity for conference delegates working under the Ambulance Victoria Clinical Practice Guidelines to test their knowledge of the recently released obstetrics guidelines and posed a number of challenging questions surrounding resource management and the transport of unrestrained patients. Professor Woollard’s unique presentation brought the 2011 annual SPA conference to a close with style.
Congratulations must be extended to the SPA Executive Committee for all of their hard work in delivering an outstanding conference which ran seamlessly throughout the day. The conference allowed an opportunity for student paramedics to enhance their learning and to challenge themselves with presentations from an exceptional range of guest speakers. A truly excellent conference, hope to see more fresh faces and another great line up of presenters at the 2012 SPA conference!
