Background:

Ambulance services have historically followed a medical model for determining future clinical direction, often deferring to a medical advisory board or medical director to determine suitable new skills, procedures, or pharmacology. Since the introduction of tertiary paramedic education, and due to the increasing professionalisation of our discipline, there has been a shift in thinking towards paramedics researching and determining their own destiny in a clinical sense. It is therefore becoming an important skill for paramedics to be able to look at current research and new trends, and to analyse the evidence base to determine whether or not this research should influence our practice, or whether a new skill, procedure, or pharmacology should be adopted into use.

Task introduction:

You have been tasked by a medical advisory board to review and propose the introduction of a new drug into the already extensive armament of drugs on offer in your chosen ambulance service. You can either choose a completely new drug not currently used by your service or you can research a drug currently used by another ambulance service for introduction into your service. Adenosine and Entonox are not permitted for this task.

The drug you choose must be approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia (TGA), not the FDA or any other international agency. If you choose a drug already used by another service please note that you cannot simply alter the indications or the route of administration for that drug - this is not sufficient for this task. The medical advisory board would like for you to report on the introduction of this drug into the ambulance service and therefore require two parts to this proposal as follows:

PART A: Literature review (25%)

You are required to review recent (no greater than 5-10 years) literature for research articles (aim for a minimum of 5 articles) in relation to this drug of choice. Seek literature related to the context of use, i.e. suitability of this drug for use in the pre-hospital / emergency medicine setting.

You will review the information within this literature, critique, and discuss the findings. As a minimum your report should include the following:

• Introduction: Background and your report aim.
• Research methodology: Identify the search methodology and which databases you used. Your methods should be sufficient to enable the reader to replicate your study.
• Results: What did you find in your literature review? Present concise summary of your findings, noting important factors such as any limitations to the studies you used. 
• Discussion: What conclusions can be drawn from the studies? Synthesise your research findings (your results) to justify your DTP introduction. Consider too the implications of introducing this drug into paramedic practice, for example, do you need to cease the use of one drug for the introduction of another? Are there any cost/equipment implications?
• Drug Therapy Protocol: Develop a new DTP for your drug of choice. This may be included within the body of your report or as an appendix, and must be fully cited.
• Conclusion: Summarise your findings and state your recommendations. Remember no new information or citations in the conclusion!
• Word limit is 1800 words +/-10%, excluding title page, in-text citations, your DTP, and the reference list.

PART B: Poster presentation (25%)

Using the information collected in Part A, you are required to develop a scientific poster about your drug of choice. Approach this as though intending for the poster to be posted around ambulance stations, i.e. providing information on the new drug and the research underlying its introduction as a new DTP, as an informational and visual adjunct to training. This poster is presenting your report findings in a different format for a different audience, therefore you must rewrite your findings to better suit the poster context; do not simply paste in sections of your written report!

Your word limit is 800 words +/-10%, excluding in-text citations, the DTP, and the reference list. Remember that information on posters must be concise and clear, as a summary of the most pertinent information, and that too much text will overwhelm and decrease impact. Refer to the assessment page in Moodle for full requirements, exemplars, and rubric.

A marking rubric for both parts of this assessment task together with exemplar material will be provided below for reference. This task is worth 50% of your overall mark. You must attain a minimum mark of 50% for this task to pass, and you must pass this task to pass the unit.

Part A: Literature review (25%)

• Presentation and layout: information presented in a clear & logical sequence; content clearly written in academic style; conforms to word count; abbreviations & diagrams are appropriate where used; layout formatting of report body is consistent and correct APA style; cover page included identifying word count (excluding citations, reference list, and DTP)
• Content: required subsections are present; selected drug meets criteria and is appropriate for introduction into prehospital use; current relevant literature used; results succinctly present literature review findings; discussion considers implications of findings for report aim and gives recommendations; concise conclusion
• Drug therapy protocol: fully cited with all information included; effective layout; concise and unambiguous language
• Referencing: all sources referenced appropriately throughout this task in correct APA style.
• File format: Submitted as Word document.

Part B: Poster presentation (25%)

• Presentation: Effective presentation of the scientific poster in terms of layout and use of visual content
• Content: Repurposes the content and findings of the literature review for the poster context and format; content must be rewritten for the new format and audience; poster must include required sections / content, though these may be renamed or recomposed as desired
• Referencing: Consistently accurate with in text and referencing list protocols in line with the APA system of referencing.
• Details: Include your name, student number, and the word count excluding citations, the DTP, and the reference list.
• File format: Submitted as PDF file.

Please refer to the Moodle assessment pages for further information, including rubric, exemplars, and instructional videos.

All submissions are subject to review of the associated TurnitIn report. 

For this assessment task you are required to complete an online quiz. The quiz will be made up of case based management exercises that include drug calculations in accordance with the Queensland Ambulance Service Drug Therapy Protocols.

The quiz will become available on Monday of Week 9, and must be completed by Friday of Week 10. You will have a specific time limit imposed to complete the quiz. Please refer to the assessment page in Moodle for an example practice quiz from previous terms that you can use to experience the quiz format, layout, and time limit.

• You will be required to answer each question at an Advanced Care Paramedic Two level (ACP2).
• In order to achieve the full marks allocated to that question you must complete the question fully and you must include any drug calculations in your answer.
• Please ensure that you read the question carefully. Some questions may ask you to give your answer as a dosage or as a volume to be given to the patient.
• This quiz is worth 25% of your overall mark.
• You must achieve a minimum pass mark of 50% to pass this assessment, and you must pass this assessment to pass the unit.
• You will only be given one attempt for this quiz.
• You will have a time limit of 90 minutes to complete the quiz.
• When time expires, any open attempts are automatically submitted.
• For this assessment task no late submissions will be accepted and the quiz will 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, nor opportunity to apply a late penalty of five percent per day.

For this assessment task you will complete an online quiz. The quiz comprises short answer questions related to the material offered in this unit. Where drug calculations are required these will be in accordance with the Queensland Ambulance Service Drug Therapy Protocols at ACP2 level.

The quiz will become available on Monday of Week 11, and must be completed by Friday of Week 12. You will have a specific time limit imposed to complete the quiz.

• You will be required to answer each question at an Advanced Care Paramedic Two level (ACP2).
• In order to achieve the full marks allocated to that question you must complete the question fully and you must include any drug calculations in your answer.
• Please ensure that you read the question carefully. Some questions may ask you to give your answer as a dosage or as a volume to be given to the patient.
• This quiz is worth 25% of your overall mark.
• You must achieve a minimum pass mark of 50% to pass this assessment.
• You will only be given one attempt for this quiz.
• You will have a time limit of 90 minutes to complete the quiz.
• When time expires, any open attempts are automatically submitted.
• For this assessment task no late submissions will be accepted and the quiz will 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, nor opportunity to apply a late penalty of five percent per day.