Paramedic PapersHome Topics Education & training
Topic
Education & training research
31 recent papers on education & training in paramedic and prehospital care, newest first. Each has a plain-English summary, the study design, the main finding and caveat, and what it means for Australian practice.
-
Paramedic training problems vary by placement setting
A Turkish phenomenological study of fifteen paramedic participants found problems in paramedic training and service delivery varied by setting — station issues were linked to the system itself while emergency department problems were tied to patients and staff attitudes — with large student numbers negatively affecting both education and service delivery.
-
Instrumented manikin neck for immobilisation training
Australian engineers built and tested a proof-of-concept instrumented manikin neck with six-degree-of-freedom motion and real-time head-position feedback for immobilisation training, achieving angle measurement error under 0.89° versus motion capture.
-
Paramedics under-document neuro change over time
A survey of 348 Polish paramedics found moderate self-reported neurological documentation completeness (mean 24.57 of a possible 35), worst for documenting temporal neurological change (only 9.2% consistent), with higher scores in those with neurological training or more experience.
-
Clearer AED voice prompts fix lay-user errors
A simulated cardiac arrest assessment of 81 final-year Spanish dental students found fewer than 10% correctly performed 8 of 10 AED steps with standard voice prompts (median time to shock 143 s), and a modified set of instructions significantly improved key actions.
-
Eye-tracking shows how experience guides ambulance care
Wearable eye-tracking on nine Japanese flight nurses across 60 real ambulance cases found gaze behaviour during initial prehospital care differed significantly by experience level, with distinct fixation patterns between novice, intermediate and expert groups.
-
Dutch TEAM tool validated for resus training
A Dutch translation of the TEAM team-performance instrument showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.93) and good three-rater reliability (ICC 0.78) across 104 simulated resuscitation team performances in ALS courses.
-
Joint training linked to higher behavioural emergency confidence
City-wide single-group pre-post evaluation of a 4-hour interprofessional behavioural-emergency course in Taiwan: self-efficacy rose from 3.16 to 3.54 (dz 0.76) and cognition rose in the 395 paired attendees, but stigma scores did not improve; the authors note these are pre-post associations, not causal evidence.
-
Interprofessional simulation shapes student identity
An Australian exploratory qualitative study of undergraduate paramedic, nursing and medical students found an interprofessional simulation event challenged assumptions about professional hierarchy and role identity, prompting students to reconsider advocacy, handover and assertive communication.
-
TeamSTEPPS training shows no measurable gain
A Norwegian TeamSTEPPS programme for ambulance staff measured teamwork and safety-culture perceptions at baseline, 4 and 12 months — and found no statistically significant change in any dimension despite the structured training.
-
Situational judgement tests in paramedic hiring
National survey of 21 Canadian paramedic services found situational judgement tests and multiple mini-interviews are rarely used in frontline paramedic hiring, mostly by smaller services despite the tools being designed for mass testing.
-
AR training keeps teen AED skills fresh
Quasi-experimental study of 193 secondary students found all three AED teaching methods produced safe, effective shocks initially, but the augmented-reality group retained a 100% effective shock rate at 3 months while the traditionally trained group declined significantly.
-
Paramedics feel weakest in neonatal and paediatric mental health
A survey of 253 Finnish paramedic graduates found moderate self-rated paediatric competence (mean 2.92/5) but low neonatal competence (2.04), with paediatric mental health emergencies rated lowest (1.30) and limited simulation or placement opportunities reported.
-
EMT pass rates vary by program size and region
A US descriptive analysis of 8,567 EMT program cohorts (2018–2022) found median first-attempt certification pass rates of 63.9%, varying by cohort size, region and year, with larger cohorts performing better.
-
Preceptorship valuable but patchy in ambulance services
A narrative review of 12 studies on preceptorship in UK ambulance services found it supports professional growth, clinical reasoning and confidence, but its definition and implementation vary and organisational support is critical.
-
Greek national school CPR championship
Description and evaluation of Greece's first national school CPR championship (Kids Save Lives) — 196 schools and 432 students competed with QCPR-measured BLS skills, scoring 95.7–96.3% on average (88.2% in special-needs schools), and 99% of the 197 surveyed participants endorsed it as effective training worth repeating.
-
CONOCES-BLS scale adapted for citizens
Spanish methodological study adapting the CONOCES-BLS knowledge scale for adult laypersons via Delphi expert consensus and pilot testing — content validity was strong (expert agreement above 0.90 on every item, Krippendorff coefficients 0.91–1.0) and internal consistency adequate (Cronbach's alpha 0.82), supporting its use for assessing community BLS knowledge pending further psychometric work.
-
Knowledge gaps in local anaesthetic dosing and LAST
Multicentre survey of 114 emergency clinicians across three Queensland EDs — fewer than half correctly identified the recommended maximum dose for any of four local anaesthetics, 21.9% couldn't recall any features of LAST, and only 10.5% could state the lipid emulsion dosing regimen.
-
Kigali mass casualty training lifts knowledge
Quasi-experimental pre–post study of a two-part mass casualty training curriculum (asynchronous video modules plus a half-day simulation) for 41 emergency providers and community first responders in Kigali — mean knowledge scores rose significantly after training and remained above baseline at 3- and 6-month follow-up, with significant confidence gains across key MCI skills.
-
VR adds little to CPR simulation training
RCT of 246 undergraduate nursing students testing immersive VR plus manikin simulation against manikin simulation alone for CPR group training — no significant difference in self-confidence or CPR group performance after cluster adjustment, though students rated VR higher on satisfaction and usability, and 33.6% reported dizziness and 19% headaches from headsets.
-
Big shift to online EMS continuing education
Retrospective analysis of 19.3 million CE completions showed post-pandemic shift to online formats, with asynchronous distributive learning increasing 209% and interactive gaming courses increasing 915%.
-
Medical students can teach infant BLS
Quasi-experimental study testing whether physician-supervised medical students can deliver infant BLS training to caregivers — knowledge scores improved significantly after training and were sustained at 12 months, with no difference between physician and student-led groups.
-
Deliberate practice translated to bedside
Study on: Step-by-step: Translating deliberate practice to the bedside. No abstract available for detailed assessment.
-
1 vs 2-minute compressor rotation with feedback
Study on: Comparing Chest compression Quality in 1-Minute vs. 2-Minute Rescuer Rotations with and without Audiovisual Feedback Guidance during full Adult Advance Life Support Simulated Scenarios: A Randomized S. No abstract available for detailed assessment.
-
Family communication in resuscitation skills
Study on: Expanding the framework of non-technical skills in resuscitation: why family communication matters. No abstract available for detailed assessment.
-
Expert-picked EMS research reading list
We identified 10 high-impact primary publications to prioritize for inclusion in initial and ongoing EMS education to inform evidenced-based out-of-hospital care and address gaps in existing prehospital EBGs.
-
University first aid programme boosts preparedness
Study on: Strengthening workplace emergency preparedness through a university CPR and first aid responder programme: four-year experience. No abstract available for detailed assessment.
-
Simulation builds team confidence for prone/beach-chair arrest
A half-day, multi-station in situ simulation course at an elective surgical unit was associated with higher self-reported confidence at three months, and self-reported application of course content to real patients.
-
ChatGPT-4o generates neonatal resus scenarios
This prospective multicenter pilot tested whether ChatGPT-4o and DeepSeek-R1 could generate valid neonatal resuscitation simulation scenarios for training, finding ChatGPT-4o performed comparably to official NRP scenarios in overall quality while demonstrating strengths in debriefing design but having gaps in dynamic vital sign provision.
-
Practical education boosts mental health confidence
They tested whether practical-based education improved paramedic students' confidence and competence in mental health assessment and management, and found hands-on training significantly improved both self-efficacy and clinical performance compared with traditional classroom teaching.
-
EM resident physician response vehicle exposure
Five-year retrospective of a physician response vehicle staffed by EM residents found residents gained valuable exposure to adult and paediatric cardiac arrests, refusals, death pronouncements, and critical trauma, with an average of 28-79 encounters per resident.
-
Professionalism as core EMS competency statement
This study validated a situational judgement test for selecting paramedic students, finding it effectively assessed non-technical skills and predicted suitability for paramedic training.