Emergency Care Practitioner
You don't need to be Editor-In-Chief to add or edit content to WikiDoc. You can begin to add to or edit text on this WikiDoc page by clicking on the edit button at the top of this page. Next enter or edit the information that you would like to appear here. Once you are done editing, scroll down and click the Save page button at the bottom of the page.
An Emergency Care Practitioner or ECP may come from either a Paramedical, Nursing or Allied Health Professional background and has developed additional academic qualifications, usually at university, with enhanced skills in medical assessment and extra clinical skills over and above those of a 'standard' paramedic/qualified nurse or other ambulance crew such as technicians. It has been recommended by the British Paramedic Association that ECPs be trained to PgDip or MSc Level.
Additional skills which they may be able to perform include:
- Administration of certain medications under patient group directives (PGD's)such as antibiotics
- Suturing, steri-stripping and glueing of wounds
- Minor surgical procedures in the field (removal of skin flaps)
- Catheterisation
- System based assessment & otoscopy/opthalmoscopy/urinalysis
- Neurological assessment - e.g. Tendon reflexes, CNII-XII, MMSE
The Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) may be employed in any area of care such as Primary Care Centres (GP Practices), Hospitals, Prisons, Walk in centres, or Out of Hours Medical Centres. The majority of ECP's work autonomously. Many are employed by Primary Care Trusts or Ambulance Services. The work of the ECP appears to be recognised as a valuable asset in many care arenas with the current trend of employment within GP practices becoming more prevalant
External links
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
