This innovative and ground-breaking idea comes from the team at QAS who have approved the program of allowing specially trained paramedics to deliver advanced life-saving care to seriously injured patients on the tourist-rich Gold Coast.
About 12 months ago the QAS Trauma Response Team initiative breathed new life as a pilot program in the Brisbane metro area. The project has been an astounding success with many lives being saved in the process. QAS paramedics have been using techniques and therapies that were originally developed by military medics who were on active duty in strategic hot-spots around the world.
The first paramedics to join the Gold Coast team will start their training soon. As they progress, they will get the opportunity to use their advanced techniques on the road and in the air, as they partner with the Gold Coast’s rescue helicopter service.
QAS Senior Medical Advisor Professor Stephen Rashford said the Trauma Response Team initiative was part of QAS’ commitment to provide the highest possible level of care to seriously injured patients.
“This patient-centric initiative provides a seamless approach for people with the most severe traumatic injuries from the time of the injury to when they receive hospital care,” he said.
“These paramedics provide care at a level seen nowhere else in Australia, and this is supported by extensive training and very strong clinical oversight.
“Several therapies used by Trauma Response Team paramedics were developed in conflict areas in Afghanistan and they have been shown to have great value for patients with traumatic injuries.”
Professor Rashford said the techniques used by Trauma Response Team paramedics included being able to administer general anaesthesia before a patient reaches hospital, and to conduct surgical procedures on the chest to relieve the build-up of blood or air under pressure.
“Paramedics are also trained to use ultrasound to identify critical internal bleeding, and this information can be quickly relayed back to doctors at the hospital to enable them to be better prepared when the patient arrives,” he said.
Dr Rashford said the results of the successful Brisbane Trauma Response Team had greatly improved a patient’s chances of survival.
“The officers who join the Trauma Response Team are already very experienced paramedics – they are Critical Care Paramedics with at least five years’ experience, but most of them have 10-15 years of experience.
“Paramedics will study for a further two to three months both in and out of the hospital environment, and we will collaborate with the Gold Coast University Hospital to provide professional development opportunities,” he said.
“Trauma injuries represent a significant cost burden to the community and this very valuable patient-centric intervention speeds the time it takes to get a person with traumatic injuries to definitive care, which improves their chances of recovery.
“The Gold Coast is one of the nation’s fastest-growing areas and it is also Australia’s playground, with a diversity of activity on the beaches, in the hinterland and on the water.
“As such, we believe it is a place with enough trauma cases to justify the skills of Trauma Response Team paramedics,” Professor Rashford said.
Further career opportunities for people who are studying to become a paramedic are clearly evident as QAS continue to innovate and introduce new programs to improve their emergency response operations.
The future of the paramedical and emergency healthcare sector in Queensland is strong, with various roles across the industry filled by talented graduates of Australian Paramedical College.
Our Certificate IV students are really taking to our new online systems as well as collaborating with one another by forming online study groups by way of the private forum on facebook. Growing numbers of students are realising, the pathway to becoming a paramedic is not as difficult as they had originally imagined, with more and more students enrolling in the Diploma of Emergency Health Care.
Read the full article here: QAS announce new Trauma Response Team for Gold Coast