Paramedic Guidelines Development

Paramedic guidelines are developed generally through a group development process involving a paramedic guidelines or clinical practice guidelines committtee involving Senior Medical Officers (who are ultimately providing paramedics with the authority to admister drugs), actual Paramedics who provide input into the development and practicality of a new skill, protocol or pharmacology, Nurses, Research Officers (who can ensure that the Guidelines reflect current best practice) and Senior Management and Finance Officers (who can determine the financial feasibility of the paramedic guidelines being developed).

It is often missunderstood why paramedics are or aren’t allowed to perform a procedure or use a drug in one Ambulance Service and not the other – often it does not reflect the abilities and training of paramedics, but the cost of implementing such a drug or skill into the regular paramedic guidelines and practice.