Studying our Paramedic Science BSc (Hons) course will equip you with the in-depth knowledge, competencies and clinical skills to become an autonomous paramedic practitioner. In introductory areas of study, you will be introduced to key aspects of paramedic practice focused on developing your assessment and diagnostic skills alongside your professional practice in our Fundamental Skills of Paramedic Science unit. Paired with our unit in Health Science for Paramedic Practice, you will explore knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biopsychosocial theories related to health and wellbeing to understand the factors that affect patient health. One essential skill you will need to save lives as a paramedic is through administering drugs and medication. In an Introduction to Applied Pharmacology for Paramedic Science, you will examine the principles of pharmacology and learn to safely administer medicines according to professional standards and legislation. Aside from the theoretical knowledge covered in your first year, you will also be supported in establishing your professional practice in our Professional Values and Relationships unit. Here, you will be introduced to the professional values in paramedic practice and how this can influence your working relationships with patients and colleagues.

In your second year, you will move on to discover more advanced skills in the paramedic sciences such as the Assessment & Management of Urgent and Emergency Care Across the Lifespan. This unit will train you to assess and manage urgent and emergency conditions using the emergency paramedic skills with the assessment and management of chronic disease or injury. In more specialised areas, you will also be introduced to Obstetric and Neonatal Care for Paramedics that will build your knowledge and skills in antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal assessment to practice care for newborn babies and their mothers. Similarly, you will be trained to conduct paediatric assessment, refer to appropriate care and treat infants and children in emergency situations in our Emergency Care of Paediatrics for Paramedics while developing the positive attitudes and professionalism towards emergency paediatric care.

Furthermore, you will also consider the mental health needs of your patients in emergency situations in our Mental Health Care for Paramedics unit. This will allow you to provide person-centred and holistic care for people accessing mental health services while developing your ability to communicate effectively with other health and emergency services to support patients. In addition, Trauma Management in Paramedic Practice will equip you with the knowledge and skills to assess and manage care for patients across non-critical, critical and complex situations that may escalate or involve a high degree of risk. You will continue to develop your professional skills in Leadership and Team Working for Paramedic Practice that will introduce you to tools, strategies and scenarios to develop your leadership abilities and promote effective teamwork.

As you build on your paramedic skills in your final year, The Critically Unwell Person will teach you to assess, manage and stabilise care for patients with critical and life-threatening conditions. On the opposite end, you will be equipped with the skills to manage people with Minor Illnesses and Injuries. This is just as important as treating more serious conditions, as you will facilitate the early detection of symptoms to prevent worsening disease or injury. In some cases, your reassurance to a patient with relatively mild symptoms will help to relieve their anxieties and therefore their experience of injury or illness. With a critical approach, you will analyse and suggest improvements to practice in an effort to enhance quality through working on a project in our Quality and Safety in Paramedic Practice unit. To prepare you for your career, Transition to Professional Practice for Paramedics will support you to make the transition from a student to a registered paramedic practitioner by preparing you for employment with a CV or practicing interview techniques.

Introduction To Academic Studies

This unit aims to foster your knowledge and understanding of how the skills of literacy and information technology enhance your learning and contribute to evidence-based care. The unit will equip you with the skills required to become a successful learner in a university setting.  It enables you to develop an understanding of how you learn and provide you with opportunities to develop the fundamental skills of academic practice. By the end of the unit, you will have acquired the knowledge and skills necessary for University study. The skills developed while undertaking this unit are transferable and applicable to all types of organisations. They are skills which are fundamental to furthering academic progress in undergraduate and potential postgraduate study.

Fundamental Skills Of Paramedic Practice

The aim of this unit is to introduce you to key aspects of paramedic practice, focusing on assessment and diagnostic skills, and professional practice. By developing correct and ethical skill acquisition, you will start to develop professional practice.  

The core skills you will be introduced to will underpin all aspects of paramedic practice, where you will develop both appropriate use and confidence preparatory for placement and service-user application.

You will combine theoretical knowledge to underpin the taught skills to help you determine the significance of assessment and diagnostic outcome. 

Health Science For Paramedic Practice

Paramedic practice is underpinned by an application of health science. This unit aims to introduce you to the biopsychosocial determinants of health and wellbeing, facilitating your understanding of health promotion frameworks and practices. The concepts of health and well-being are relevant to the paramedic who has a responsibility for helping patients and their carers to understand the factors that affect their health. The role of psychosocial theories will be explored in relation to health and well-being. A knowledge of anatomy and physiology will help you as a paramedic to contact assessment, formulate preliminary diagnoses and determine appropriate management plans.

Professional Values And Relationships

The aim of this unit is to introduce you to professional values underpinning paramedic practice and how these influence the development of working relationships with service users and colleagues. Throughout the year, opportunities will be provided to assimilate into the role of the paramedic by developing ‘self’, interpersonal relationships and practice ability. The importance of developing an awareness of ‘self’ and how this can impact on your professional image and patient care will be explored with reference to your practice experiences.

Introduction To Applied Pharmacology For Paramedic Practice

It is imperative when administering drugs and medications to patients that the paramedic does so safely and effectively.  This unit aims to introduce the principles of pharmacology and develop your knowledge and skills to be able to safely administer medicines, doing so in accordance with professional standards and legislation, making appropriate decisions in relation to medicines and educating others about the pharmacological aspects of care.

The unit addresses what you must know and do to fulfil the professional standards in relation to the law, safeguarding, consent, pharmacology, and medicines administration and optimisation.

This unit is an introduction to applied pharmacology, where it is expected that individuals will continue throughout their studies to develop and enhance both knowledge and understanding, preparatory to practicing as a paramedic.

Assessment & Management Of Urgent And Emergency Care Across The Lifespan

This unit aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills to assess and manage urgent and emergency conditions, including those caused by long term conditions, whether in a patient's home, work, or public place.

The unit will have two key focuses, firstly, emergency paramedic skills, and secondly, the assessment and management of chronic pathophysiology's. The later will explore the impact on the patient and their carer’s and will explore the burden of caring, where emphasis will be place on assessment of the patient’s capability and mental capacity; with a view to facilitating empowerment for self-care or appropriate referral.

The unit will use simulation to enhance learning with skills applied through Clinical Evaluation Exercises (CEX), Case-based Discussions (CbD), Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), Simulation (SIM), and the practice learning environment.  A combination of these assessment and learning methods will be adopted throughout the unit to enable the completion of both rapid assessment and treatment. 

Obstetric And Neonatal Care For Paramedics

The aim of this unit is two-fold; firstly to provide you with the knowledge and skills associated with the antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal assessment to underpin your practice as a paramedic, identifying the need to refer to a midwife or obstetrician, as appropriate. As more care of mothers is taking place in the community the chance of paramedics being called to assess mothers and their babies is on the increase. Secondly, the assessment and care of newborn and preterm babies is significantly different from other stages in the lifecycle and requires specialist care. This unit will explore these areas using both midwives and children’s nursing specialists

Mental Health Care For Paramedics

The aim of this unit is to explore the needs of people with a range of mental illnesses and the services available to them. During the unit, you will be introduced to some of the key aspects underpinning mental health care by paramedics in a pre-hospital context. You will learn about the importance of person-centered and holistic care for people accessing mental health services and the importance of partnership and effective communication between paramedic services and other health and emergency services. Emphasis will be placed on the needs of people accessing mental health services in emergency situations and key referral pathways initiated by paramedics in response to mental health crises will be reviewed.

Trauma Management In Paramedic Practice

This unit aims to develop knowledge and skills in relation to assessment and care management for patients in non-critical, critical, and complex situations. Such situations involve a high degree of risk to the patient and often to support services. Each situation has the potential to escalate within a short period of time to become life critical. Scene management is crucial to minimising risk before casualties can be assessed, treated, and transported to hospital where rapid and effective clinical decision making is vital for the preservation of life. 

A structured system-based approach to patient assessment will be adopted throughout the unit to enable you to conduct a rapid assessment and management.  The unit will use simulation to enhance learning with skills applied through mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises (CEX), Case-based Discussions (CbD), Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), Simulation (SIM), and the practice learning environment.  A combination of these assessment and learning methods will be adopted throughout the unit to enable the completion of both rapid assessment and treatment. 

Emergency Care Of Paediatrics For Paramedics

The aim of this unit is two-fold; firstly, to provide students with the knowledge and skills associated with paediatric assessment to underpin your practice as a paramedic, identifying the need to refer to appropriate definitive care, as appropriate, and to treat in the emergent situation. Infants and children constitute a small proportion of all patients attended by the ambulance service, and this can lead to additional stress for clinicians as paediatric patients are not regularly seen or the complexities they present may not be sufficiently experienced to allow for confident practice. While situations requiring Advanced Life Support are rarely seen, it is critical for paramedics to be well versed in this area as well as other emergent presentations.

Secondly, the assessment and care of paediatric patients is different to adults and requires an appreciation of developmental milestones. Paramedics must understand how a paediatrics’ growth and physical development relate to their condition as well as how they receive the care from a stranger in their world.  

This unit will deliver topics to advance the student in both knowledge and understanding, utilising available evidence-based literature, real or fictitious cases, and practical skills to develop positive attitudes and professionalism towards emergency paediatric care.  

The unit will use simulation to enhance learning with skills applied through mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises (CEX), Case-based Discussions (CbD), Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), Simulation (SIM), and the practice learning environment.  A combination of these assessment and learning methods will be adopted throughout the unit to enable the completion of both rapid assessment and treatment.

This unit will not focus on neonate care as this is explored in a separate unit.

Leadership And Team Working For Paramedic Practice

This unit seeks to develop your understanding of the qualities of a contemporary paramedic leader who has personal confidence, competence in communicating, and awareness of the impact they make on others in professional circumstances. You will be given opportunities to explore a range of theoretical concepts associated with leadership and effective team working.

During the unit you will be introduced to a number of tools, strategies, models and frameworks, and scenarios which will support you to reflect on your own leadership abilities and role; in promoting effective team working.

Students are encouraged to enrol and complete the Edward Jenner programme with the NHS Leadership Academy.  This unit will create the foundation needed to be an autonomous practitioner and help you develop into a functional leader through personal development, work-based learning, team work and communication skills. 

The Critically Unwell Person

This unit aims to develop your knowledge and skills in relation to assessment and care management for patients with acute conditions. Such conditions have the potential to become life threatening within a short period of time and therefore required prompt assessment and stabilisation. A structured system-based approach to patient assessment will be adopted throughout the unit to enable you to differentiate between normal body function and dysfunction.

A structured system-based approach to patient assessment will be adopted throughout the unit to enable you to conduct a rapid assessment and management.  The unit will use simulation to enhance learning with skills applied through mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises (CEX), Case-based Discussions (CbD), Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), Simulation (SIM), and the practice learning environment.  A combination of these assessment and learning methods will be adopted throughout the unit to enable the completion of both rapid assessment and treatment. 

Transition To Professional Practice For Paramedics

The aim of this unit is to assist you in making the transition from student to registered paramedic practitioner. You will develop skills and strategies for facilitating learning for service users, carers and colleagues, reinforcing your role in influencing others. Support systems for the paramedic will be discussed and as you are expected to be a lifelong learner, future professional development will be explored. You will be given opportunities to prepare for employment as a paramedic by developing a CV and practicing your interview techniques.

Minor Illnesses And Injuries

The aim of this unit is to enable you to manage people with minor illnesses and injuries in a range of settings thus avoiding unnecessary and inappropriate use of hospital services. This unit focuses on the management of minor illness and injury by paramedics. What may seem minor symptoms may be recognised as early symptoms of a major and possibly preventable disease by a paramedic. At the opposite end of the spectrum, worrying symptoms can be exacerbated by anxiety into a crisis, when all is needed is reassurance. Sorting these out and managing them appropriately is challenging, but essential for modern-day health care where fast access to primary health care and appropriate use of resources is key.

A structured system-based approach to patient assessment will be adopted throughout the unit to enable you to conduct a rapid assessment and management.  The unit will use simulation to enhance learning with skills applied through mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercises (CEX), Case-based Discussions (CbD), Direct Observation of Procedural Skills (DOPS), Simulation (SIM), and the practice learning environment.  A combination of these assessment and learning methods will be adopted throughout the unit to enable the completion of both rapid assessment and treatment. 

Quality And Safety In Paramedic Practice

Improvements to health care quality frequently improve patient safety. This unit will enable you to analyse and suggest improvements to practice that enhance quality and where appropriate patient safety within a specific area of health care practice. A distinguishing feature of the graduate paramedic is the ability to critically analyse the existing evidence for current practice, and formulate views and judgments about how the quality of future practice might be developed and evaluated. Graduate paramedics, through such processes, can be active participants in service developments that are important to the quality improvement agenda in health care.

The unit aims to enable you to access, critically analyse and apply service improvement methodology, to negotiate and plan a project for service improvement.