NAME [ MR SANDHU, HARPREET ] ID [ 407212 ] UNIT CODE [ CAA312 ]

Faculty of Health

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Unit Co-ord./Lecturer Mr LIGHTON, David
Tutor:(if applicable) N/A
Student ID 407212
Student Name Mr SANDHU, Harpreet
Unit Code CAA312

Unit Name CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN PARAMEDIC PRACTICE
Assessment Task
ASSESSMENT TASK 1A, CASE OPTION 3
Title/Number
Word Count 1200 Words (Words 1301 [incl. referencing])
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CASE 3: PARAMEDIC REGISTRATION AND REGULATION, PRESENT IN DETAIL A CASE
DEMONSTRATING THE RELATIONSHIP REGISTRATION AND REGULATION HAS TO
PROFESSIONALISM
When questioning paramedic professionalism within Australia; we have to closely look at the history of where ‘para-medicine’ has come from, how it has evolved, where it is today and where pre-hospital care and pre-hospital service is going in the future. We have to identify what regulation means to paramedics, if it is serving best purpose and outcome to the occupation and are there benefits in evolving into a profession? We should also ask ourselves why other healthcare occupations have become professions and has this been a benefit to their industry and community perception?
The concept of pre-hospital care is not a new philosophy, it is a concept which has been seen through the ages of history, but the concept of pre-hospital care as a professional occupation is relatively young. Within Australia, Victoria and Tasmania are the first states to establish some sort of recognised Ambulance Service in Australia. Other states slowly establishing or recognising established bodies from 1855 to 1955 (please view Table 1.1).
TABLE 1.1
STATE DATE OF FIRST RECOGNISED “AMBULACE SERVICE”
ACT 1913 [1]
NSW 1895 [2]
QLD 1982 [3]
SA 1920 [4]
TAS 1887 [5]
VIC 1887 [6]
List of founding dates of the first recognised Ambulance Services for each state, many were not government established and were initially operated by community groups.

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As community expectations changed, control of pre-hospital services were consolidated and regulated through state government legislation, the first being ‘The Southern Tasmanian
Ambulance Transport Act of 1932’ [7]. This act was originally based more on the provision of
Ambulances, including the ability to raise capital to maintain services. This type of legislation evolved and started to be implemented and governed in other state parliaments into the legislation we see the states implementing today (please view Table 1.2).
Although states are independently governed, each state’s act follow simular identifiable principles within legislation, they are –
1.

Power of creation/approval/dissolvent of an Ambulance Service under ministerial (or their representative’s) control;

2.

The funding and fee structure (either being: government funded, free per service, subscription/levy scheme or a hybrid of the three);

3.

Self-governing and continuous-improvement (such as roles and accountabilities for the board, executors and managers of the organisation);

4.

Identification of powers, roles and/or responsibilities (which derives the authority for paramedic practice),

5.

Offences and disciplinary measures and

6.

Exclusivity of being entitled to provide and ‘ambulance type’ service within the state

These legislative acts formulate the regulation, which established the entitlement of
Paramedic scope of practice which allows self-governing and continuous improvement