Guts, instinct and knowledge ... at the critical moment : the role of the paramedic in technical rescue environments

Since the professionalisation of the role of paramedic with the advent of Health Professions Council (HPC) registration the scope of paramedic practice has expanded and broadened. Following the issue of benchmark standards for paramedic science by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) [1] paramedic education and training have changed beyond all recognition. Paramedic degree and diploma courses and specialist courses such as Paediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Pre Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) and Medicine in Remote Areas (MIRA) etc. now see paramedics able to carry out a range of clinical interventions and procedures that would, in the past, have been unheard of. The knock-on effect has been the creation of a range of paramedics with extra training in a variety of specialist areas; for example, emergency care practitioners, remote area and forensic paramedics. This article aims to explore another specialisation: that of the technical rescue paramedic.