Emergency Care Practitioner
An Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) generally come from a background in paramedicine and most have additional academic qualifications, usually at university, with enhanced skills in medical assessment and extra clinical skills over and above those of a standard paramedic or qualified nurse. It has been recommended by the College of Paramedics that ECPs be trained to PgDip or MSc level, although not all are.[1] Evidence of the best way to target Emergency Care Practitioners is limited with utilisation of traditional Ambulance dispatch codes not always being shown to be most effective[2] and referrals from GPs also potentially failing to deliver management of demand that would be appropriate for this different level of practitioner.[3] Evidence however clearly demonstrates that in discreet groups of patients the use of these extended role staff responding to emergency calls can reduce admissions and thus improve patient outcomes as well as delivering a clear cost saving to the NHS.[4]
- ^ "What does a 'super-paramedic' do?". BBC News. 30 June 2005.
- ^ Gray, J. T.; Walker, A. (1 September 2008). "AMPDS categories: are they an appropriate method to select cases for extended role ambulance practitioners?". Emergency Medicine Journal. 25 (9): 601–603. doi:10.1136/emj.2007.056184. ISSN 1472-0213. PMID 18723716. S2CID 206937201.
- ^ Gray, J. T.; Walker, A. (1 August 2009). "Is referral to emergency care practitioners by general practitioners in-hours effective?". Emergency Medicine Journal. 26 (8): 611–612. doi:10.1136/emj.2008.059956. ISSN 1472-0213. PMID 19625564. S2CID 32964197.
- ^ Gray, J. T.; Walker, A. (1 March 2008). "Avoiding admissions from the ambulance service: a review of elderly patients with falls and patients with breathing difficulties seen by emergency care practitioners in South Yorkshire". Emergency Medicine Journal. 25 (3): 168–171. doi:10.1136/emj.2007.050732. ISSN 1472-0213. PMID 18299372. S2CID 5401892.