Navigating Pre-Hospital End of Life Care: A Paramedic Perspective

End of life care (EoLC) issues in the Canadian healthcare system are now commonplace. Palliative care and medical assistance in dying (MAID) programs are giving patients more options than ever before. Consequently, pre-hospital and community paramedicine programs now interact with more patients who require EoLC

Organ Donation - A Role for Paramedics?

Organ donation remains a space that is yet to be explored in paramedic practice. In this article, we aim to shed some light on the organ donation process, and highlight some potential barriers to paramedic involvement. We also reflect on potential solutions to these barriers, and look to the future

Navigating pre-hospital end of life care: A paramedic perspective

Batt, AM ORCiD: 0000-0001-6473-5397End of life care (EoLC) issues in the Canadian healthcare system are now commonplace. Palliative care and medical assistance in dying (MAID) programs are giving patients more options than ever before. Consequently, pre-hospital and community paramedicine programs now interact with more patients who require EoLC. This creates ample opportunity for combined growth in the areas of paramedic practice and patient autonomy. This opportunity for growth is not without caveats however. Paramedics now have a responsibility to both further educate themselves and their patients as they increasingly engage with EoLC issues

GoSponsor…Us: Going beyond mentoring for women in paramedicine

Batt, AM ORCiD: 0000-0001-6473-5397Mentoring and sponsorship are essential components in the professional development of both men and women. These types of relationships often form between individuals who have common interests, or when the junior member reminds the more senior member of themselves. In paramedicine, the number of men in leadership positions usually leads to the mentorship and sponsorship of junior men. It can be the case that junior women find it difficult to find similar levels of personal and career support since there are fewer women in paramedic leadership positions. The literature demonstrates that women are over-mentored and under-sponsored.(1) But what exactly does that mean? Are these not the same thing

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council: A scoping review

Background: Published data are lacking on response to and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the Middle East. What data there are have not been comprehensively analysed. Aims: This study aimed to assess the characteristics of people with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) and the response to and outcomes of such incidents. Methods: This was a scoping review of published and grey literature on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in GCC countries from 1990 to June 2019. Studies in English and Arabic were eligible for inclusion. MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science and EMBASE were searched as well as relevant non-indexed journals. Google searches were also done. References of included studies were scanned for relevant articles. Experts on the subject in the region were consulted. Results: Of 647 citations retrieved, 24 studies were included for data extraction and analysis. No literature was identified for Bahrain. People with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in the region were younger, predominantly male and had more comorbidity than reported in other regions of the world. Use of emergency medical services was low across the GCC countries, as was bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation, return of spontaneous circulation and survival to discharge. Conclusions: A coordinated effort to address out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, including the generation of research, is lacking within and among GCC countries. Establishment of lead agencies responsible for developing and coordinating strategies to address out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, such as community response, public education and reporting databases, is recommended