Overview
This unit will offer you a comprehensive introduction to retrieval medicine relevant to critical care paramedic practice. You will explore the basic principles of aviation as they relate to the clinical retrieval of unwell patients. You will gain an understanding of the safety considerations associated with both rotary and fixed-wing retrieval platforms. You will evaluate the impact of flight on normal and altered physiology to enable you to optimise care in this environment. Furthermore, this unit will assist you to distinguish the non-technical skills used to complement technical skills utilised in aeromedical retrieval, as well as develop knowledge surrounding the identification and mitigation of retrieval challenges.
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 - 2022
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.
- Explain the basic principles of aviation as they relate to the clinical retrieval of unwell patients
- Identify and discuss safety considerations associated with both rotary and fixed-wing retrieval platforms
- Evaluate the impact of flight on normal and altered physiology
- Distinguish the non-technical skills relevant to aeromedical retrieval that are used to complement technical skills
- Identify and mitigate retrieval challenges.
n/a
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Case Study - 30% | |||||
| 2 - Case Study - 30% | |||||
| 3 - Essay - 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 - Case Study - 30% | ||||||||
| 2 - Case Study - 30% | ||||||||
| 3 - Essay - 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.
a.delport@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction to Aeromedical Retrieval.
Retrieval systems.
Retrieval platforms.
Crew composition.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Flight physiology.
Gas laws.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Stressors of flight.
Internal environmental stressors.
External environmental stressors.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Overview of CASA regulations.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Special considerations.
Paediatrics.
Pregnancy.
Biohazards.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Patient preparation.
Pre-flight considerations.
Ventilation.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Winch Retrieval.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Human factors.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Non-Technical skills.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Non-Technical skills.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Review.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Review.
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Case Study
This assessment requires an analysis of flight physiology and environmental stressors and their effects on pathophysiology and care related to a hypothetical clinical retrieval. You must answer the following questions based on best international practices and contemporary evidence in retrieval medicine.
· Critically evaluate the key flight physiology that relates to the hypothetical patient.
· Critically evaluate the effects of environmental stressors on your patient and equipment.
· Based on your analysis, determine and rationalise the optimal transport platform for the hypothetical patient.
Week 5 Friday (8 Apr 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 7 Friday (29 Apr 2022)
There is a minimum word count of 2000 words (+/- 10%), excluding references for the case study. You will be assessed per the information and rubric on the units Moodle page. Your assignment must be presented in Word format. PDF format is not permitted.
- Explain the basic principles of aviation as they relate to the clinical retrieval of unwell patients
- Evaluate the impact of flight on normal and altered physiology
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
2 Case Study
In this assessment, you will be given a hypothetical retrieval scenario. You must select options for access and egress and mitigate against the associated risks of your selected retrieval plan. Additionally, you will be required to identify and minimise clinical retrieval challenges associated with a hypothetical patient. You must answer the following questions based on best international practices and contemporary evidence in retrieval medicine.
· Identify and discuss safety considerations associated with retrieval operations.
· Analyse the risk associated with the retrieval platform.
· Identify and mitigate retrieval and clinical challenges associated with the hypothetical scenario.
· Select appropriate retrieval equipment.
· Provide the appropriate patient safety brief based on the method of access and egress.
Week 8 Monday (2 May 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Monday (16 May 2022)
There is a minimum word count of 2000 words (+/- 10%), excluding references for the case study. You will be assessed per the information and rubric on the units Moodle page. Your assignment must be presented in Word format. PDF format is not permitted.
- Identify and discuss safety considerations associated with both rotary and fixed-wing retrieval platforms
- Identify and mitigate retrieval challenges.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
3 Essay
This assessment requires that you investigate the relevance of non-technical aviation skills for aeromedical retrieval. You must distinguish the non-technical skills relevant to aeromedical retrieval used to complement technical skills and then argue for/against their adoption by medical transport specialists. · Identify and demonstrate understanding of all non-technical skills in the aeromedical retrieval environment. · Distinguish non-technical skills from technical skills. · Synthesise arguments for/against non-technical skills training for medical transport specialists based on your understanding of the aeromedical retrieval environment.
Week 12 Monday (30 May 2022) 11:45 pm AEST
Review/Exam Week Friday (10 June 2022)
There is a minimum word count of 2000 words (+/- 10%), excluding references for the case study. You will be assessed per the information and rubric on the units Moodle page. Your assignment must be presented in Word format. PDF format is not permitted.
- Distinguish the non-technical skills relevant to aeromedical retrieval that are used to complement technical skills
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
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.
What can you do to act with integrity?
