European paramedic curriculum—a call for unity in paramedic education on a European level

Abstract

Background There have been major developments in healthcare services as well as changes in demographics in recent years, and this has, among other things, led to increased demand for ambulance services. In general, this has also led to calls for more highly educated paramedics. Main body Erasmus + provided a grant for three universities and one public service provider in four Nordic countries to work on a harmonised model curriculum for a bachelor’s degree in paramedic education. The project group has now completed the first phase of the project, which was to examine what paramedic education is available in the participating countries and what laws and regulations affect both the operation of ambulance services and the education of paramedics. At the end of the project, a harmonised exemplary curriculum will be available to anyone interested in educating paramedics at the university level. Conclusions The growing need for highly educated paramedics should be addressed by offering a bachelor’s degree university education with an exemplary curriculum and coordinating it within Europe. The added value of a harmonised education programme within Europe would thus enable further and deeper collaboration.

Perceived human factors from the perspective of paramedics – a qualitative interview study

“…Basic-level EMS units are staffed by one health care professional (a vocational upper secondary qualification) with specialization in prehospital emergency care (comparable to emergency medical technicians or basic life support level) and one other qualified person. Field supervisors (responsible of operational work) are advanced-level paramedics with sufficient work experience and an operative leadership training [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Paramedics’ perceptions of job demands and resources in Finnish emergency medical services: a qualitative study

“…The latter requires higher competencies involving more autonomy and responsibilities of patient assessment and care. As such, in Finland, although basiclevel paramedics hold a degree as practical nurse, registered nurse or firefighter, advanced-level paramedics are required to hold a bachelor's degree in either nursing, here with an additional advanced-level specialisation course, or a separate bachelor's degree in emergency care nursing [15,27]. The standard degree for advanced-level paramedics in Finland is the four-year bachelor's degree in emergency care (240 ECTS), which is a dual-degree with an integrated bachelor's degree in nursing.…”

“…Compared to a nursing degree, the emergency care nursing degree specifically adds competencies in pathophysiology, pharmacology, autonomous patient assessments, clinical decision-making, non-technical skills and acute care treatments as well working as a part of other out-ofhospital authorities. This dual-degree model is unique, with only a handful of countries-mainly Finland, United Kingdom and Australia-offering similar educational models [15]. In addition, paramedic and prehospitalfocused master-level degrees are also available; these degrees have gained popularity and traction among professionals.…”

“…Consequently, paramedics more often require both broader and deeper competencies to perform their daily clinical work, with wide variations in the complexity of patient encounters [12,13]. Therefore, an increasing number of paramedic professionals hold a university-level degree [13][14][15]. Meanwhile, clinical patient situations that paramedics might not necessarily have the tools, knowledge or guidelines to handle often involve patients presenting complex clinical or social problems [16].…”

Prehospital nursing students' experiences of patient safety culture in emergency medical services—A qualitative study

“…Some countries use emergency medical technicians and paramedics; other countries, such as Sweden, Belgium and Finland, staff the ambulances with registered nurses (RNs) (Sjölin et al, 2019 ). Finnish prehospital nursing education has similarities with other countries' education systems, but it is not totally comparable, for example, with education in the other Nordic countries or the UK (Dúason, Ericsson, et al, 2021 ; Paramedics, 2019 ). In Finland, prehospital nursing studies mainly focus on prehospital nursing, but they also include RN qualification.…”