48 new student paramedics on-road

Forty-eight new Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) student paramedics are undertaking on-road training at centres across the State.

Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said the first-year student paramedics have completed the first block of class-based tuition and will undergo 10-months practical on-road training.

“They will perform the role of second officer at their new stations assisting qualified paramedics in assessment and treatment of the patients,” Mr Roberts said.

“Just gaining entry to paramedic training with the QAS is an achievement in itself. A lot of people are attracted to a career with QAS and selection is highly competitive.

“Over the coming months they will experience the full range of tasks that a paramedic can expect to encounter, from delivering babies to major trauma in motor vehicle accidents.”

Mr Roberts said during their training period student paramedics will be taught basic life support skills that include defibrillator and medication administration abilities, under supervision, for conditions such as asthma and chest pain.

“At the end of their 10-month practical session the student paramedics will return to Brisbane for more theory before once again heading back to their home base for further on-the-job experience, he said.

“When they graduate, the students will be qualified with a Diploma of Paramedical Science (Ambulance) and will return to their regions to begin their role as a fully qualified paramedic.”

Mr Roberts said the group of 48 new student paramedics was part of a State Government commitment to provide an additional 250 new Ambulance officers.

Media contact:
·Kirby Anderson 07 3247 8194, 0418 197 350 (Minister Roberts)