PATIENT-PARAMEDIC TRUST CAN HELP FREE UP EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS
Dr Robbie King,
Senior Advanced Care Paramedic/Community Paramedic,
Sunshine Coast District, Birtinya Station, Queensland Ambulance Service &
Lecturer & Researcher (Paramedicine), Australian Catholic University (ACU)
PEOPLE IN HEALTH CARE SEGMENT
Filmed in Brisbane, Queensland | December 2024
Dr. Robbie King is a Senior Advanced Care Paramedic with the Queensland Ambulance Service and a community paramedic. He is also a lecturer at the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane. After studying paramedicine and working as a student paramedic since 2009, he recognised that most patients attended by ambulance services did not require emergency interventions.
About a decade ago, Queensland Ambulance implemented the Local Area Assessment and Referral Unit, a community paramedic program. In his role at Queensland Ambulance Service, Dr. King has spent the past six years focusing on patients who may not need traditional emergency responses. His work involves performing enhanced assessments to understand patients’ psychosocial needs and determining appropriate healthcare pathways.
Dr. King’s PhD research consisted of quantitative and qualitative studies. The quantitative study analysed data from 1.5 million people who contacted New South Wales Ambulance Service, revealing that 12.6% were not transported to emergency departments. Notably, around 43% received emergency responses, yet many were found simply in need of reassurance.
The qualitative study involved interviews with 21 subjects from various regions, leading to the development of a theory centred on self-efficacy. The findings indicated that patients often experienced a loss of independence but gained self-reliance and confidence through compassionate, competent care from paramedics, allowing them to better manage their circumstances after the paramedics left.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Dr Robbie King earlier this year on his findings and what it could mean for paramedicine policy, education and practice.
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Report: Youth pathways to health services
The 2020 Youth Health Forum (YHF) was created to make young people’s ideas and experiences part of our national discussions about services for young Australians.
Healthcare professionals across Australia have long recognised the problem of young people falling through the gaps of a health system that wasn’t designed for them.
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HIGHLIGHTS The power of social determinants of health, panel discussion
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More recent phenomena in public health have also focused us on the health and social care connection. Stress factors such as the sudden loss of employment and social interaction, moving to remote work or schooling, and the impacts of sudden, localised COVID-19 ‘lockdowns’ to prevent further outbreaks were triggers of increased psychological distress.
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Value-Based Health Care : Dental Health Services Victoria Case Study
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