Unit Profile Correction added on 06-04-20
Assessment 3 has now been changed to an alternate form of assessment. Please see your Moodle site for details of the assessment.
Overview
This unit will give you the specific knowledge and skills to function in aeromedical, retrieval and tactical medicine areas as a critical care paramedic. The unit looks at the core aspects of aeromedical and retrieval medicine covering physics, planning and preparing strategies for successful operations within aeromedical, retrieval and tactical areas, rotary vs fixed wing transport, functioning in confined or limited spaces, human factors and operational concerns, the clinical issues, risks and challenges involved in transporting critically ill patients in the aeromedical environments. You will demonstrate an understanding of the concepts regarding risk analysis, safety concerns, teamwork and identify the effective communication and collaboration skills utilised within aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environments.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2020
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of 'pass' in order to pass the unit. If any 'pass/fail' tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully ('pass' grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the 'assessment task' section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure - International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback - Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Have your say
More information on evaluating who requires winching or other complex procedures.
The final decision to undertake winching ideally lies with the aircraft captain and the winch is operated by the aircrewman. However, further information regarding these procedures and when they are used will be included on the unit's Moodle page for the students' information in future offerings of this unit.
Feedback from Have your say
More content on Tactical Medicine
This unit is only a 6 credit unit, which covers an introduction to tactical medicine, aeromedical and retrievals. In future offerings this will be made more explicit on the unit's Moodle. Students who would like more training in Tactical Medicine would be directed to the handbook for further information on the Graduate Certificate and Graduate Diploma in Tactical Medicine’.
- Plan, prepare and implement strategies for successful operation within aeromedical, retrieval or tactical areas
- Integrate critical care clinical knowledge and functionality in aeromedical, retrieval and tactical operations
- Identify communication and collaborative skills utilised within aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environments
- Examine the clinical issues, risks and challenges involved in transporting critically ill patients in the aeromedical environment
- Develop an understanding of the concepts of risk analysis, team safety and teamwork in the aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environment.
A Graduate Diploma is now the standard requirement for many state ambulance services for advanced positions in the paramedic field. These positions have speciality areas that include aeromedical, retrieval and tactical areas.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 - Presentation - 30% | |||||
2 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||||
3 - Portfolio - 40% |
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
1 - Knowledge | |||||
2 - Communication | |||||
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
4 - Research | |||||
5 - Self-management | |||||
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
7 - Leadership | |||||
8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures |
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
1 - Presentation - 30% | ||||||||
2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||
3 - Portfolio - 40% |
Textbooks
There are no required textbooks.
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: Harvard (author-date)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
n.williams-claassen@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction and Crew Resource Management
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
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Introduction and Crew Resource Management
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Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Flight Physiology
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Patient Preparation
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Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Aeromedical Trauma Cases
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Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
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In-flight Emergencies
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Fixed wings retrievals
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Special Operations Rescue
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Tactical Medicine Introduction
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Tactical Medicine Introduction
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Tactical Medicine
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Tactical Medicine
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Events and Submissions/Topic
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Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Presentation
Preamble
In the critical care context, you will integrate clinical knowledge and functionality, identify effective communication and collaborative skills and examine the clinical issues, risks and challenges involved in the transporting critically ill patients, while demonstrating an understanding of the concepts of risk analysis, team safety and teamwork in aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environment.
Task Description
In this assessment, you will need to create a PowerPoint case presentation describing a particular aeromedical, retrieval, or tactical agency that employs paramedics. It is not limited to Australia (or your local service) and can be any entity across the globe that has a role in paramedic driven aeromedical, retrieval, or tactical medicine.
The PowerPoint presentation must include the following information:
· History of the service.
· Capabilities and limitations of the service.
· A description of the communications and collaboration skills utilized by this service and the clinical skills, training and knowledge of the paramedics involved.
· Clinical issues, risks and challenges involved including, but not limited to:
- Types of patients transported or treated in the field
- Specific safety issues faced by the paramedic, team or service
- Potential law or administration concerns (such as accreditation, international or state boundaries, etc.)
- Health and fitness requirements of the personnel.
Week 6 Wednesday (22 Apr 2020) 10:00 am AEST
Week 8 Wednesday (6 May 2020)
Assessment Criteria
The presentation will be assessed in accordance with the rubric and information provided on the unit’s Moodle page. The following criteria are key points to be included:
- The presentation should be in a PowerPoint format.
- Recorded narration is required and you can use the Notes section to detail your thinking.
- The presentation must address each of the main topic tasks as detailed in the task description.
- Avoid superficial points or comments.
As this is a presentation, you should include images where appropriate, but these must be referenced.
The presentation has no specified length in regards to the number of slides used but the recorded presentation must be approximately twenty (20) minutes.
This presentation is worth 30% of your overall unit mark.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
- Integrate critical care clinical knowledge and functionality in aeromedical, retrieval and tactical operations
- Identify communication and collaborative skills utilised within aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environments
- Examine the clinical issues, risks and challenges involved in transporting critically ill patients in the aeromedical environment
2 Written Assessment
In this assessment, you will be given a case briefing for an aeromedical scenario. From there, you will create a risk analysis for the successful retrieval and transport of the patient in the scenario. You are required to explain the risks associated with this patient management and retrieval and if/how these risks can be mitigated by addressing the following main points:
· Potential issues or hazards regarding the mission (i.e. distance, weather, personnel needed, equipment checks, etc.).
· Potential clinical issues, risks and challenges associated with transporting this patient (i.e. stability, deterioration, physics, health concerns, stressors, etc.).
You are also required to take into account: preparation, communication and planning, crew resource management, flight physiology, and in-flight emergencies.
Week 9 Wednesday (13 May 2020) 10:00 am AEST
Week 11 Wednesday (27 May 2020)
The case report will be assessed in accordance with the rubric and information provided on the unit’s Moodle page. The following criteria are key points to be included:
• The case report should be presented in an essay format.
• The case report must address each of the main topic tasks as detailed in the task description.
• Avoid superficial points or comments and be clear and concise.
• As this is a written assessment, you must include in-text referencing and a reference list.
There is minimum word limit of 2000 words and a maximum word limit of 3000 words for your risk analysis case report.
The case report document is worth 30% of your overall unit mark.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
- Plan, prepare and implement strategies for successful operation within aeromedical, retrieval or tactical areas
- Integrate critical care clinical knowledge and functionality in aeromedical, retrieval and tactical operations
- Examine the clinical issues, risks and challenges involved in transporting critically ill patients in the aeromedical environment
- Develop an understanding of the concepts of risk analysis, team safety and teamwork in the aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environment.
3 Portfolio
This assessment requires two tasks.
Firstly, you are required to arrange an observation site visit or tour to any of the following areas:
· Any paramedic based aeromedical unit including EMQ, NSW HEMS, RACQ, MedStar, etc.
· Any fixed-wing service such as an RFDS unit
· Any police service that supports paramedics, has an aeromedical or medical unit or has a tactical unit
Others may be accepted, but will need to be approved by Unit Coordinator prior to the site visit.
Please take note that the site visit is not designed to be formal placements or ride-along with QAS, NSW Ambulance or any other ambulance service, aeromedical or tactical entity. The goal of this site visit is for you to directly observe and reflect upon critical care paramedics in one of our specialty areas.
Please provide evidence of attendance.
Secondly, you will need to critically discuss the following items in relation to the service that you visited:
· Role and responsibilities of the CCPs (or other advanced practice clinicians) involved.
· The CCP’s unique role in the aeromedical, retrieval or tactical environment (i.e. rescue trained, additional skills, experience or other qualifications required, combat-trained, etc.).
· The other personnel involved and how they collaborate, communicate and function with the CCP (or other advanced practice clinicians).
· The transport units involved (i.e. described the rotatory or fixed-wing craft or tactical vehicle used) and their considerations such as capabilities, range (distance able to travel), operating space, maximum occupancy, landing requirements, noise, pressurization, etc.
· Specialty equipment used (i.e. medical devices, retrieval equipment, point of care devices, etc.).
· Dispatch and TeleHealth (consultation) capabilities.
Week 12 Wednesday (3 June 2020) 10:00 am AEST
Exam Week Wednesday (17 June 2020)
Assessment Criteria
The portfolio will be assessed in accordance with the rubric and information provided on the unit’s Moodle page. The following criteria are key points to be included:
• The portfolio should be presented in an essay format.
• The portfolio must address each of the main topic tasks as detailed in the task description.
• Avoid superficial points or comments and be clear and concise.
• As this is a written assessment, you must include in-text referencing and a reference list.
• Images can be included where appropriate, but these must be referenced.
There is a minimum word count of 2000 words and a maximum word limit of 3000 words.
This portfolio is worth 40% of your overall unit mark.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
- Plan, prepare and implement strategies for successful operation within aeromedical, retrieval or tactical areas
- Identify communication and collaborative skills utilised within aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environments
- Develop an understanding of the concepts of risk analysis, team safety and teamwork in the aeromedical, retrieval and tactical environment.
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.