| CODE | NUR1456 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Emergency Medical First Response | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Nursing | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Emergency First Responders are the first to arrive at the scene of an accident. They are sometimes required to deal with serious medical emergencies until the arrival of the Emergency Medical Services or until the arrival of expert medical care, and support casualties with simple interventions that may go beyond the scope and purpose of Basic First Aid. To this end, this course builds on the principles of Basic First Aid and introduces additional knowledge and skills that are required to address immediately life-threatening conditions. This Emergency First Responder course is primarily designed for first responders who have a limited medical background, and require extended / advanced first aid training to provide immediate emergency care to a casualty while waiting for an ambulance or while waiting for expert/definite medical care. However, in view of its content and structure, this course can also serve as a knowledge and skill upgrade for first aid instructors, and as a refresher course for healthcare professionals who are not directly involved in the Emergency Medical Services, but who can encounter serious medical emergencies during patient care. Topics covered include: - Scene assessment & scene safety - Casualty assessment & priorities of care - Communication & documentation of care - Catastrophic bleeding - Cardiac arrest - Airway compromise - Loss of consciousness - Anaphylaxis - Hypoxia - Shock - Sudden acute illness - Serious trauma Skills covered include: - Casualty assessment - Adult & paediatric basic life support (CPR & AED) - Bag-valve-mask ventilation - Use of simple airway adjuncts & suctioning - Emergency oxygen administration - Epinephrine auto-injector - Wound packing and haemostatic agents - Tourniquet application - Splinting - Helmet removal - Assisting spinal motion restriction (incl. C-collar application, log-rolling, spinal board - Pelvic binding Study-Unit Aims: - To introduce course participants to the principles of pre-hospital emergency care. - To provide course participants with the fundamental skills required to deal with an emergency situation, using a range of basic emergency equipment. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Define an emergency, discuss the main aims of emergency and immediate care, and discuss the scope and role of a first responder. - List the components that make up a comprehensive scene assessment (e.g. PENMAN), and provide examples of issues that may be encountered / identified during scene assessment that require specific considerations (e.g. hazards, CBRNE, multiple casualties etc.). - Describe the basic body functions related to breathing, circulation and consciousness. - List the components that make up the initial (primary) and secondary assessment, and highlight signs/indicators of ABCD compromise. - State the correct ranges for normal and abnormal vital signs, and use the correct nomenclature to refer to deviations from normal. - List the main life-threatening conditions and describe the immediate actions that are required in their emergency management (mainly catastrophic bleeding, loss of consciousness, airway compromise, cardiac arrest, severe dyspnoea, hypoxia, shock and anaphylaxis). - Briefly describe the general pathophysiology of common acute illnesses (mainly hypoglycaemia, cerebro-vascular accident, myocardial infarction and asthma). - Briefly describe the complications related to serious trauma (incl. head & face, chest, abdomen, neck & back, pelvis & femur, and extremities). - Describe the immediate and emergency care for specific emergency conditions discussed during the course, as per established guidelines. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Provide first aid for casualties who sustain serious trauma or develop a sudden acute illness, as per established first aid guidelines. - Don and dof basic personal protective equipment (e.g. disposable gloves, eye-protection and apron), and apply appropriate hand hygiene measures. - Conduct an initial (primary) and secondary assessment, using a systematic and sequential approach (e.g. A-B-C-D, head-to-toe). - Measure and document body temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, blood glucose level & pulse-oximetry; evaluate and document pupil reaction & level of response (AVPU); and collect and document a SAMPLE history. - Identify catastrophic bleeding, and apply wound packing (with/out haemostatic agents), pressure dressing/bandaging, and tourniquets (e.g. CAT/SAM-XT). - Determine cardiac arrest, and initiate life-support measures for adults, children and infants (incl. CPR, AED and BVM ventilation). - Provide artificial ventilation to an unresponsive non-breathing casualty using a bag-valve-mask device (incl. oxygen reservoir, simple airway adjuncts and suctioning). - Relieve a foreign body airway obstruction (choking) in un/responsive adults, children and infants. - Administer high-concentration oxygen to casualties with signs of hypoxia and shock using a non-rebreather mask. - Help a casualty into an appropriate position for emergency care as appropriate for specific conditions (e.g. shock position, Fowler's position, recovery position). -Maintain manual in-line stabilisation of the head; safely remove a helmet in patients with risk of airway compromise; and assist in the implementation of measures for spinal movement restrictions (e.g. applying a c-collar, log-rolling,back board). - Immobilise upper and lower limbs using body strapping and a variety of splints. - Guide and assist casualties with self-administering prescribed emergency medications (incl. sublingual GTN tablet and spray, chewable ASA, Salbutamol inhaler, nasal Naloxone, Epinephrine auto-injector, Glucagon IM). - Document and hand-over the emergency care provided using a structured approach (e.g. ATMIST). Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - BTEC. (2017). First person on scene: FPOS (2nd ed.). Pearson. [Available at library.] Supplementary Readings: - European Resuscitation Council. (2021). ERC Guidelines 2021:Basic Life Support. Retrieved May 7, 2023, from https://cprguidelines.eu/ - National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. (2020). PHTLS: Prehospital trauma life support for first responders (9th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Publishers. - Pilbery, R., & Lethbridge, K. (2016). First responder care essentials. Class Professional Publishing. [Available at library.] - Resuscitation Council UK. (2021). 2021 Resuscitation guidelines. Retrieved May 7, 2023, from https://www.resus.org.uk/library/2021-resuscitation-guidelines - Schottke, D. (2016). Emergency medical responder: Your first response in emergency care (6th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning. [Available at library.] - St John Ambulance, St Andrew’s First Aid and the British Red Cross. (2021). First aid manual (11th ed.). Dorling Kindersley. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Qualifications: Valid basic first aid certificate or equivalent | ||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Independent Study and Workshop | ||||||||||||
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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