Ambulance Service Employment Conditions

Students should be aware before entering the course that Ambulance services in Australia have inherent requirements for employment that preclude people with certain health conditions. Please see specific statutory Ambulance Service websites for further information; details for the Queensland Ambulance Service can be found at the following link: 

https://www.ambulance.qld.gov.au/clinicalplacements.html

 Entry Requirements:

Students without Senior English, Senior Science (in particular Chemistry) and Senior Mathematics are strongly urged to undertake the Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies (STEPS course).

Credit for Prior Learning:

Diploma of Paramedical Science Pathways:

Pathway 1

HLT51015 Diploma of Paramedical Science

Credit may be awarded for up to 4 units for students with a current HLT51015 Diploma of Paramedical Science completed externally to CQUniversity.

Pathway 2

HLT51015 Diploma of Paramedical Science CQUniversity

Some courses have specific timeframes regarding the completion of prior study or may be deemed unsuitable for granting credit if granting credit will conflict with the relevant professional accrediting body, statutory authority or industry requirements. Credit is normally granted only for unit satisfactorily completed in the last 2 years for clinical units and in the las 5 years for theoretical units at a recognised educational institution. 

Credit may be awarded for up to 5 units for students with a current CQUniversity HLT51015 Diploma of Paramedical Science.

The credit calculator may assist by providing an estimate of the credit you may be eligible to receive towards your CQUniversity Course

For further information regarding credit and how to apply please visit Credit Transfers and RPL.

Clinical placement

Students are required to complete three Clinical Paramedic Practice units during the degree, which amount to a minimum of 15 weeks (600 hours) of full-time work placement. Clinical placements are invaluable in developing professional and clinical skills and workplace literacy within the authentic clinical environment, and ensure high standards of graduate work readiness and employability.

All clinical placements are undertaken primarily with the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS). Due to state-wide demand for placement positions, students must be prepared to travel to any location within Queensland for clinical placements as home placement is very unlikely. This commonly involves staying away from home for the duration of the placement, and taking leave from substantive employment and other regular responsibilities to ensure availability for full-time 24/7 rostered work. Students with extenuating circumstances restricting ability to travel and stay away from home are invited to submit requests for special consideration, but should understand that these may not be fulfilled if there are simply no available placement allocations within their home town.

Students seeking clinical placement outside of the Queensland Ambulance Service must understand that interstate placements are not readily available, and that certain statutory Services only accept interstate placement requests from students with pre-existing volunteer or employment relationships with those Services. For further information please contact the Unit Coordinator for clinical placements.

The three clinical placement units involve the following on-road blocks. All placements must be completed as contiguous blocks during the time period allocated to that placement unit.

PMSC12002 – Clinical Paramedic Practice 1 (2nd year, Term Two) 5 weeks

PMSC13002 – Clinical Paramedic Practice 2 (3rd year, Term One) 2 weeks Rural and 2 weeks Urban

PMSC130004 – Clinical Paramedic Practice 3 (3rd year, Term Two) 6 weeks

There is no capacity for students to request split blocks, custom dates, or to work only on their days off. Calendar dates for these blocks may change from year to year depending upon state-wide allocation availability, and are determined at the end of Term Two for the following year. The dates are announced to all students at that time in an information sheet, and can thereafter be found on the Sonia Home Page (clinical placement management software) and the CG95 Portal (on Moodle).

Mandatory requirements for clinical placement

Students will be required to purchase the approved Paramedic Clinical Placement uniform for wear during lab sessions, residential schools, and clinical placement. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will also need to be purchased from the CQUniversity Bookshop as a Workplace Health and Safety requirement by Ambulance Services when on clinical placement. Non-adherence to uniform and PPE requirements will result in immediate removal from clinical placement.

All statutory Ambulance Services mandate that students meet certain vaccination and health standards prior to attendance, whilst the University also has certain requirements to ensure student safety and readiness for practice. Information on all of these requirements and associated due dates is updated yearly and shared on the Sonia Home Page and the CG95 Portal; please also see the link below for QAS Clinical Placements website.

https://www.ambulance.qld.gov.au/clinicalplacements.html

Students must submit all QAS Mandatories and CQU requirements to the Schools Work Integrated Learning Officers by the stated due date for that year to be deemed eligible to attend clinical placement. All requirements are non-negotiable so it is imperative that students review and begin working to meet these requirements early.

1. Immunisation and infection control: Full details are provided within the information sheet on Sonia Home Page. Take these requirements to your GP and ask for your immunisation record for all vaccines if available.

Hepatitis B: It is strongly advised that students have a blood test to check their immunity upon enrolment, so that if found not immune, they can commence their Hepatitis B vaccination schedule immediately during 1st Year. Note that the full age-appropriate vaccination schedule can take 7 months to complete, and that the QAS and other Services do not accept the accelerated version of vaccine.

Varicella (chickenpox).

Diptheria/Tetanus/Pertussis (Adult).

Measles, Mumps Rubella.

Influenza.

The following additional vaccinations are highly recommended by QAS, but are not mandatory:

Tuberculosis (TB) screening: Mantoux test or QuantiFERON Gold test

Meningococcal W & Y Vaccination: 15-19 year olds may access the free Meningoccoccal ACWY Vaccination program; other students should discuss this with their GP. https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/640147/faq-meningococcal-acwy-program.pdf     

2. QAS Medical Assessment: This medical requires students to have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 33 or less (36 or less for Indigenous applicants) to be pronounced ‘Fit for Duty’. If you do not meet this criteria, your placement for that year will be cancelled and you have to re-do the unit and the medical again the next year.

3. Blue Card: Students are required to have a valid Blue Card linked to CQUniversity for the duration of their placement with the Queensland Ambulance Service. Students approved for interstate placement must acquire the analogous screening for that State. http://www.bluecard.qld.gov.au/applications/need-to-apply-for-card.html

4. QAS Annual Clinical Placement Orientation Checklist: The QAS require this checklist to be completed prior to each and every clinical placement unit.

5. Current approved First Aid Certificate and CPR certification: CQUniversity requires Paramedic Students to attain a first-aid certificate from a registered training provider within the first term in the first year of enrolment, and to maintain certification validity at the first day of placement for PMSC12002 in 2nd year. Note that first aid certificates expire every three years, whilst CPR certifications require annual renewal.

Residential School Requirements

Students studying the CG95 Course will be required to attend compulsory residential schools for some units.

Click here to view Residential Schools for all units.

Year Two & Three - Combined Residential Schools

Please note: It is highly recommended that students enrol concurrently in PMSC13010 and PMSC13011 in year three as residential schools for these units run consecutively.

It is also a requirement that students in their second year study both PMS12001 and PMSC12004 consecutively.

St John's Ambulance Membership

It is highly recommended that all students enrolling in CG95 become members of St John's ambulance as this will complement your studies in the first 18 months of the course and give you exposure to the ambulance world prior to clinical placement.

Professional Accreditation

As a student you are eligible for membership with Student Paramedics Australasia (SPA), Australian & New Zealand College of Paramedicine. Links to memberships can be found here.

https://www.anzcp.org.au/membership/

http://www.studentparamedic.org.au/membership

Computing Requirements

It is a requirement of enrolment in this course that students have access to the CQUniversity website. Students may be required to undertake various components of study in the course using email and the Internet.

It is strongly recommended that students have access to a broadband connection or higher to access online student resources that include but are not limited to, email, Internet, video streaming and electronic assessment submission.

Students will be required to have computer access whilst on clinical placement; students are unable to access QAS computers therefore to complete other unit requirements and assessment pieces for clinical placement a laptop computer is highly recommended. Students unable to have access to a laptop are to contact the unit coordinator prior to clinical placement.