A pilot of the Paramedic Advanced Resuscitation of Children (PARC) course

Abstract

Paramedics are the primary providers of prehospital care to children in an emergency. However, they deal with children's emergencies infrequently, and consistently report a lack of confidence in this area. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health standards state that clinicians with Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) training or equivalent must be available at all times to deal with emergencies involving children. While APLS is widely recognised as the gold standard in paediatric training, it focuses on in-hospital providers of paediatric life support, so may not adequately meet the needs of prehospital providers. The Paramedic Advanced Resuscitation of Children (PARC) course attempts to condense the most important aspects of APLS for paramedics into a simulation-based programme that is practical and cost effective. Evaluation of the views of the eight paramedics who took part in the pilot revealed that they felt more confident in managing children's emergencies after attending the course. The PARC course may be a simple, cost-effective method to improve paramedics’ confidence in dealing with emergencies involving children. Abstract published with permission.