An Emergency Care Practitioner generally come from a background in paramedicine and most have additional academic qualifications, usually at university, with enhanced skills in medical assessment and extra clinical skills over and above those of a standard paramedic, qualified nurse or other ambulance crew such as EMT's and Ambulance Technicians. It has been recommended by the College of Paramedics that ECPs be trained to PgDip or MSc level, although not all are. Evidence of the best way to target Emergency Care Practitioners is limited with utilisation of traditional Ambulance dispatch codes not always being shown to be most effective and referrals from GPs also potentially failing to deliver management of demand that would be appropriate for this different level of practitioner. Evidence however clearly demonstrates that in discreet groups of patients the use of these extended role staff responding to emergency calls can reduce admissions and thus improve patient outcomes as well as delivering a clear cost saving to the NHS.
Employment
ECPs may be employed in a range of areas of care such as emergency medical services, primary care centres, hospitals, prisons, walk-in centres, or out-of-hours medical centres. The majority of ECPs work autonomously. Many are employed by Primary Care Trusts or Ambulance Services. The work of the ECP appears to be recognised as a valuable asset in many care arenas with the current trend of employment within primary care practices becoming more prevalent.
ECPs in the United Kingdom are educated to different levels. In some areas a BSc or Post Graduate Certificate makes one an ECP while in other areas an MSc may be needed. A number of British universities are developing qualifications which can allow a paramedic or nurse to gain employment as an ECP. University of Hertfordshire:
ECPs in South Africa are educated from the level of BHSc EMC or the older BTech EMC - each of which requires 4 years full-time study or an additional 1-2 year part-time study for those already in possession of a National Diploma in Emergency Medical Care - up to the level of PhD EMC by thesis. The only four institutions offering the qualification are:
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town
University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg
Skills
United Kingdom
Additional skills which UK ECPs may perform include:
Administration of medications under patient group directions or supply via Valid Prescriptions. Some ECP's can independently prescribe allowing for greater autonomy.
Suturing, Steri-Strips, and tissue adhesive wound closure
South African ECPs are also required to complete several medical rescue training modules during their studies such as high angle rescue, light motor vehicle rescue and aquatic rescue.
Emerging roles and opportunities
Since around 2008, the role of the ECP has become more popular around the world as the demonstrable benefits of the role become apparent. As a result, the role has now expanded to parts of Canada, New Zealand and Australia. All of these are largely based on the UK model.
