Order Description
Assessment:
Your task is to design a clinical practice guideline/treatment pathway for a specific condition which has
been allocated to you. You must decide on the layout and format which best suits the condition, and
describe the paramedic management in an out-of-hospital context.
You will need to research the condition, to find out what is the current best practice, and provide
references which support the treatment you describe. You may review guidelines which already exist for
the condition you have been allocated, but these should not be copied or dictate the management you
explain (use journal articles instead).
You have free-range over the design of your guideline, but consider it should be 2-3 pages in length.
Include some background information on the condition and issues for paramedics to reflect on. Highlight
potential ‘time-critical’ situations and difficulties with patient assessment. You may also want to consider
some overall patient safety statements such as “all unconscious patients should be transported to hospital
regardless of the cause” etc.
The guideline should also include explicit details around drugs to administer, including the dose and how
often. You may suggest the use of drugs which are currently not common place in the prehospital setting,
provided there is evidence supporting their use and it would be reasonable to carry these drugs in an
ambulance (e.g. does not require a fridge). There is no need to segregate different levels of practitioner
(e.g. Intensive Care Paramedic) – your guideline would be used by every paramedic regardless of their
skills.