EMT-A Policy Approval
Friday 7th March 2003 will go down in the annals of pre-hospital emergency care as being a most significant day. On that day at a PHECC organised launch in the South Court Hotel, Limerick, Mr Micheal Martin, TD. Minister for Health and Children, formally announced policy approval for an Emergency Medical Technician Advanced (EMT-A) programme.
This policy approval has been eagerly awaited since the 1993 Report (Review of the Ambulance Service) first proposed the concept. The development of such a programme is in keeping with best practice internationally through the introduction of Paramedics. The development and roll out of an EMT-A programme is also consistent with the recommendations of the Cardiovascular Strategy and the 2001 Strategic Review of the Ambulance Service.
This is a new initiative and will build upon the existing excellent EMT foundation block already in place throughout the country. The deployment of EMT-As will mean that the public can both expect and receive advanced pre-hospital emergency care on a par with the best paramedic standards in the developed world.
Graduates of the EMT-A training programme will work to further improve outcomes for patients across the country who require emergency care. By enhancing the excellent skills already delivered by our Ambulance Service we will improve the survivability and comfort of patients who find themselves in serious accidents or with acute and sometimes life threatening medical conditions. |
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There are additional elements that must be put in place before deployment can take place. The most important of these will be the development of an Irish EMT-A training course. Other factors which will have to be taken into consideration are the provision of adequate and or additional resources to commence deployment of an EMT-A programme.
The whole area of deployment will also have to be reviewed. The Spatial Analysis projects commissioned by PHECC should contribute to the debate in this area. Expectations on rapid implementation of this programme must be tempered by other factors. It is envisaged that the geographic distribution and operational deployment of EMT-As will need specific research in order to design the best and most cost effective operational deployment models.
The speeches of the three principal speakers at the launch are contained in this issue of the PHECC Voice. They give a complete picture of the current situation and put the whole initiative into context as well as sign posting the way forward.
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Micheal Martin TD. Minister for Health and Children.
PHECC and the Health Boards Executive will work in collaboration on the distribution of the advanced trained paramedics to ensure they are deployed throughout the country.