For this assessment, you are required to answer a series of questions that will explore your knowledge and understanding of concepts discussed in weeks 1-4 of this unit.

The ability to explain complex medical and pathophysiological concepts to your patient and their family is an important skill as a paramedic. For this assessment, you will need to develop your answers to convey the information in a manner your patient, or their family will understand, whilst still remaining professional and scientifically accurate. Furthermore, the questions will assess your ability to search for appropriate material to answer the questions and reference it accordingly.

The questions will be made available in a document on the Moodle Page under the Assessment Information tab.

Please write your assessment using the following style and format and upload it to the PMSC11004 Moodle page under the Conceptual Understanding link in the Assessment Tab.

Your assessment should be formatted to Arial font and size set to 14 point, and line spacing should be set to 1.5.

Only submissions in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx) will be accepted.

· Cover Page includes the following information:

• PMSC11004 Paramedic Emergencies 1
• Conceptual Understanding Written Assessment
• Academic Lecturers: Andrew Hodgetts and Lorraine Holmes
• Student Number
• Full Name
• Word count

The word limit is between 150-200 words per question (total word count between 1500-2000) not including headings and references.

The assessment will be marked against a rubric which will be available on the Moodle page.

Minimum of 2 references per question from either a textbook or peer-reviewed journal from the last 10 years.

The assessment must be referenced using the American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition) http://www.cqu.edu.au/?a=58413

In the absence of an approved extension, a penalty of 5% of the total marks for the assessment will be deducted for each full or part calendar day the assessment is overdue, in accordance with Assessment Policy and Procedure.

The pass mark for this assessment is 50%

You will be required to complete an Online Quiz which will be scheduled during the Exam period for Term 2.

The quiz will consist of multiple-choice, short answer and long answer formats. 

The online quiz will assess your knowledge and understanding of the content covered throughout this unit, including lecture material, supplementary study notes and required readings.

The quiz will be accessed through the Assessment tab on the Moodle page. 

This is an individual assessment with no collaboration allowed.

In the absence of an approved extension, there will be no opportunity to complete the tasks after the specified dates, and there will be no opportunity to apply a late penalty of five percent per day.

You will only receive 1 attempt at the quiz.

You will be required to attend a compulsory residential school for the practical assessment for this unit.

Your assessment tasks will consist of three (3) Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). The format of the OSCEs will include a Long Case Management Exercise, a Clinical Discussion and Reflection, and a Clinical Handover and Documentation Exercise.

All assessment tasks align with the learning outcomes for this unit, as described in the Unit Profile.

The Case Management Exercise (CME) will take the format of clinical scenarios designed to assess your knowledge and understanding of the material covered throughout the unit, by means of a structured, simulated patient interaction. Furthermore, the CMEs are designed to assess your ability to perform a thorough and accurate patient assessment and use this information to formulate a provisional diagnosis. In combination with your patient assessment and provisional diagnosis, you will be required to implement appropriate and timely clinical interventions, procedures and/or skills commensurate with your current scope of practice. Scene management and effective communication skills will also be assessed.

The Clinical Discussion and Reflection will assess your ability to explain the underlying pathophysiology behind your provisional diagnosis of the patient in the CME, and rationalising your management by explaining your knowledge of appropriate pharmacological and clinical interventions. You will also critically reflect upon your practice with a particular focus on patient assessment, provisional diagnosis, communication and team work.

The Clinical Handover and Documentation Exercise will assess your ability to deliver a clinical handover to a senior clinician (i.e. CCP/ICP/MICA) or other health care professional and document this information on an Ambulance Report Form. You will use the clinical information gathered from your Long Case Management Exercise to provide an accurate and informative handover highlighting your patient information, clinical assessments, provisional diagnosis and patient management. You will then document this information on an Ambulance Report Form.

The practical assessment is a pass/fail assessment. You must achieve a cumulative mark of greater than 50% across all three (3) OSCEs to pass this assessment.

The Long CME will be worth 40% of the overall marks and the Clinical Discussion and Reflection, and Clinical Handover and Documentation Exercise are worth 30% each of the overall marks.

Multiple scoring tools/rubrics will be utilised, based on the format of the OSCE. The scoring tools/rubrics for each assessment are validated and reliable.

Assessments will be moderated by the Unit Coordinator and therefore feedback will not be made available at the completion of your residential school.

Critical errors in this unit will be classed as anything, by act or omission that: causes immediate harm or has the potential to cause harm to yourself, partner, patient or bystanders and/or any procedure/skill or pharmacology administered, that is performed outside your scope of practice.

During any form of assessment, if any of the following critical errors are witnessed the assessment will continue and be moderated. Upon review and confirmation of a critical error, no marks will be awarded for that assessment item. Furthermore, any critical error discovered on review or moderation will result in no marks being awarded for that assessment item.

Critical errors are as follows:

· Unsafe defibrillation

· Incorrect joules delivered during defibrillation

· Defibrillation of a non-shockable rhythm

· Failure to recognise a cardiac arrest within one (1) minute

· Failure to defibrillate a shockable rhythm within two (2) minutes

· Failure to perform a complete drug check, including determining indications and all contraindications

· Incorrect sharps disposal or unsafe practice with a sharp

· Performing a skill or procedure outside your scope of practice taught to you in PMSC11002, PMSC12001 or this unit

· Administering pharmacology outside your scope of practice, or administering an incorrect drug or drug dose

· Any grossly unsafe practice, as determined by the assessing academic

If you do not understand any of the above, please clarify with your unit coordinator.

Failure to attempt/undertake an assessment task will result in a fail for this assessment.