Survey of paramedic skills in the United Kingdom and Channel Islands

Abstract

A national training programme for paramedics was adopted in 1984 on government recommendation.1 Regional training programmes were established under the auspices of local steering committees, and paramedics throughout Britain were trained in endotracheal intubation, intravenous cannulation, cardiac monitoring and defibrillation, and the use of selected parenteral drugs. Further skills could be introduced on the basis of local need. We believed that regional variation could not be explained by demographic and infrastructural differences alone. We therefore undertook a national survey of the extended skills currently practised by ambulance paramedics. In April 1995 we sent questionnaires to the chief executives of the 47 ambulance trusts in the United Kingdom and Channel Islands and followed up by telephone calls. The respondents were asked to identify which of 108 extended skills were currently being taught and which were expected to be taught by the …