For this assessment, you will answer a series of questions that explore your knowledge and understanding of concepts discussed in weeks one to five of this unit. The questions require you to demonstrate your understanding of clinical concepts and apply problem-solving skills in paramedic practice.

There will be ten questions, each requiring short answers, covering a range of clinical concepts such as pathophysiology, pharmacology, clinical assessment, differential diagnoses, and clinical management considerations. As the word limit for each question is quite brief, you shall need to demonstrate the capacity to explain concepts in a concise, direct manner, without excess wordiness. This is a vital skill for paramedics in the field, who complete report forms on every patient and case attended.

The full set of assessment questions will be made available in a document on the Moodle page under the Assessment Information tab.

Question responses

• Responses should be written out fully, not presented as a list of dot-point statements
• The total word count for the document shall be 1500-2000 words, excluding the title page, headings, citations, and reference list
  
• References must be either a textbook or a peer-reviewed article dating to within the last ten years, plus statutory ambulance clinical guidelines
• A minimum of 10 different references is required to be cited in your assignment and listed in the reference list. 
• Statements in your responses should be supported by at least two citations of peer-reviewed literature, which must vary between question responses
• Citations and your reference list should be formatted in APA 7th Edition style
• All submissions are subject to Turnitin scrutiny.

Paper formatting (APA style)

• The paper should include a title page (see details below)
• Left alignment (not justified) with 2.5cm (1") margins
• Three to five character indent for first line of each paragraph
• Five to seven character hanging indent for the reference list
• Arial or Times New Roman font, 12pt size (pick one and stick with it!)
• Double spacing
• Headings are in bold, 12pt size, and centred
• Reference list should be placed as the final page of the document. 

Cover page

• Unit title
• Assessment title
• Student name and number
• Total word count excluding cover page, headings, citations, and reference list. 

Submission and grading

• Please submit your document in Word format (.doc or .docx) to Moodle
• The assessment is graded against a rubric that will be shared with the question list to the assessment page in Moodle
• In absence of an approved extension, a penalty of 5% of the total possible marks for the assessment shall be deducted for every full or part calendar day the submission is overdue, in accordance with Assessment Policy and Procedure
• The pass mark for this assessment is 50%
• This assessment contributes 60% of your final grade. 

This online quiz tests your applied knowledge of all content covered this term. Questions are derived from the:

• Learning objectives
• Unit content
• QAS CPM's
• Standard approaches to assessment and management.

The quiz comprises questions of various formats, including:

• Multiple choice
• Matching
• Fill in the blanks
• Label the diagram
• True/false
• Short answer
• Long answer. 

You will have 120minutes to complete the quiz, and there is no opportunity for a resit. Please ensure that you carefully read all directions within the Unit Profile and upon the assessment page in Moodle prior to undertaking this quiz. 

• Please ensure that you read each question carefully and that you provide as much information as you can in your response
• You will only be given one attempt for this quiz
• Once started, do not press BACK on your browser or REFRESH the page at any time; your work will be lost as responses are not saved until the quiz is submitted or the allotted time expires
• You will have a time limit of 120 minutes to complete the quiz
• When the due date expires, any open attempts are automatically submitted; you must therefore start the quiz at least 120 minutes before that deadline, or you will not receive your full time period
  
• This quiz is worth 40% of your overall mark
• You must achieve a minimum pass mark of 50% to pass this assessment
• The quiz becomes available at 0000hrs on Monday, Week Twelve
• The quiz closes at 2359hrs on Friday, Week Twelve
• For this assessment task no late submissions will be accepted and the quiz will close and become unavailable after the due date and time
• In the absence of an approved extension, there will be no opportunity to complete the task after this date
• If you experience a technical issue you must notify the Unit Coordinators immediately.

The practical assessments for this unit require you to put your knowledge and skills into practice on simulated clinical cases. They are designed to cover several important tasks completed by paramedics on every clinical case, including patient care, clinical reflection, report writing, and handover. The clinical content may cover any material from the term.

Your practical assessment tasks will consist of four Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs). The format of the OSCEs will include:

1. Long Case Management Exercise (CME)
• The Case Management Exercise requires you to demonstrate sound critical thinking and appropriate patient care in a structured clinical scenario. During the CME you, will perform a thorough and accurate patient assessment and use this information to formulate a provisional diagnosis. You will then implement appropriate and timely clinical interventions, commensurate with your current scope of practice, to effectively manage the case. Scene management and effective communication skills will also be assessed, and the CME assessment is subject to the rules of Critical Errors.
2. Clinical Discussion and Reflection

• The Clinical Discussion and Reflection assesses your understanding of clinical pathophysiology and treatment modalities, asking you to explain the provisional diagnosis of the CME case and to rationalise and justify your treatment decisions. You will also critically reflect upon your performance during the CME, assessing your own performance in patient assessment, diagnosis, communication, and teamwork. 

3. Clinical Handover
• The Clinical Handover assesses your ability to deliver a clinical handover to a senior clinician (i.e., CCP/ICP/MICA) or other health care professional. You will use the clinical information gathered from your long case CME to provide an accurate and concise handover utilising the IMISTAMBO format.
4. Documentation Exercise (DE).
• The Documentation Exercise (DE) is a demonstration of your ability to accurately and clearly report upon the CME in the form of a standard Ambulance Report Form (Patient Care Record [PCR]/Digital Ambulance Report Form [DARF]). This tasking is required generally from the treating paramedic after every clinical case. This documentation includes pertinent information relevant to the case such as: attending crew, scene findings, patient information, clinical assessments, provisional diagnosis, and patient management.

Internal (on-campus) students shall complete their practical assessments at their local campus, whilst external (mixed-mode, distance) students are required to nominate for and attend a residential school offering. The assessment types are identical for all cohorts and residential offerings, regardless of internal or external status, or campus location.

Failure to pass the practical component will result in a Fail grade for Paramedic Medical Emergencies One in this offering. 

• The practical assessment is a pass/fail assessment overall
• A passing grade of 50% or more across all four OSCEs is required to pass this assessment
• Failure to attempt/undertake an assessment task will result in a fail for this assessment.
• Multiple scoring tools/rubrics will be utilised, specific to the varying format of the four individual OSCEs
• The scoring tools/rubrics for each assessment are validated and reliable, and consistent between practical offerings
• Assessments across all campuses will be moderated by the Unit Coordinators after completion of Residential Schools, and therefore detailed feedback will not be made available at the completion of assessments
• Attendance at Residential Schools and the internal assessments is compulsory, and you must attend 100% of Residential School days
• If for any reason you cannot attend a day at Residential School you must immediately notify the Unit Coordinators and provide appropriate evidence, as per Assessment Policy and Procedure, to justify your absence
• You will be responsible for making arrangements with the Unit Coordinators to make up for all missed learning and assessments.

Critical errors:

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 by an academic in addition to the usual grading. 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:

1. Unsafe defibrillation 
2. Incorrect joules delivered during defibrillation
3. Defibrillation of a non-shockable rhythm 
4. Failure to defibrillate a shockable rhythm within two minutes (pulseless VT or VF) 
5. Failure to recognise a cardiac arrest within one minute
6. Failure to perform a complete drug check, including determining indications and all contraindications
7. Incorrect sharps disposal or unsafe practice with a sharp
8. Performing a skill or procedure outside your scope of practice taught to you in PMSC11002, PMSC12001, or this unit
9. Administering pharmacology outside your scope of practice or not in accordance with any aspect of the DTP (e.g. incorrect indication, dose, route, etc.)
10. 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.