Ambulance Research Institute to improve patient care
The NSW Minister for Health, John Della Bosca, announced the introduction of
an Ambulance Research Institute to improve patient care on Monday
11 May 2009. Funding has been allocated to Ambulance to make the
Institute a reality.
Research into ambulance practice is a largely unexplored area unlike other areas of medicine, so the first stage of the project will involve the appointment of staff to carry out much-needed research. Staff will be required to develop online educational training programs for paramedics in evidence-based best practice and research project design.
Research questions to be investigated include:
- Community needs and expectations, to help Ambulance plan for the future;
- Ambulance clinical practice including the areas of cardiac care, paediatrics, serious trauma, chronic disease, stroke, falls and mental health;
- Medical retrieval, including the safe transfer of critical care, mental health and obese patients, and including vehicles and equipment;
- Systems research including Ambulance performance compared to other states and countries; and
- Workforce and educational research including professional development opportunities for paramedics and volunteer staff.
The Institute will establish a network of researchers and associates built around established collaborations with academic and research units like The George Centre for International Health, the Centre for Injury Risk Management, University of New South Wales, the School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Charles Sturt University and many others.
The funding has also been used to provide scholarships for nine paramedics to undertake an Honours program to equip them for a career in ambulance research. The scholarships, conducted through Charles Sturt University as part of their distance education programs, have been provided to paramedics from Katoomba, Macksville, Penrith, Coffs Harbour, Tamworth, Murwillumbah, Moruya, Bankstown and Cardiff.
With Ambulance experiencing over one million call-outs each year, paramedics are extremely hard-working and play a vital role in supporting the health and well-being of our communities, but it is important we continue to improve our ambulance services where possible to ensure patients benefit.
Ambulance is committed to assisting the community create safer and healthier environments and outcomes by making prevention everyone’s businesses. A number of innovative community education programs have been implemented to assist identify life threatening conditions, understand what to do in an emergency and the importance of adopting illness prevention strategies.