Paramedicine, also known as paramedic medicine, is a field of medicine that specializes in the provision of emergency medical care outside of a hospital setting, typically in emergency situations such as accidents, injuries, or illnesses. Paramedics are healthcare professionals who provide this care, usually in an ambulance or other emergency vehicle, and are trained to assess, treat, and transport patients to medical facilities.
Paramedicine involves a range of skills and interventions, including:
1. Emergency assessment and diagnosis
2. Cardiac arrest management
3. Trauma care
4. Wound management
5. Pain management
6. Basic and advanced life support
7. Medication administration
8. Transportation to medical facilities
Paramedics work closely with other healthcare professionals, such as emergency medical technicians (EMTs), nurses, and physicians, to provide seamless care to patients in emergency situations.
Paramedicine is an essential component of the healthcare system, ensuring that patients receive timely and appropriate care in emergency situations, and helping to save countless lives every day.
The importance of Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) in our healthcare delivery system came to the fore in 2020 with the advent of COVID-19 Pandemic.
Ambulances fitted with life-saving equipments were procured by Local, State and Federal Governments to transport the victims of this pandemic and those they came into contact with to designated health facilities for treatment.
At the back of these Ambulances were inscriptions “Paramedics” The irony of these inscriptions was they were no Paramedics or Emergency Medical Technicians in the Ambulances. Many States and even the Federal Government have no paramedics employed in their health care delivery systems or hospitals.
Paramedics are healthcare professionals, and their primary responsibility is to respond to, assess, and triage emergent, urgent, and non-urgent requests for medical care, apply basic and advanced knowledge and skills necessary in determining patients’ need and administer medication.
Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) have remained a missing link in our healthcare delivery system. Our healthcare institutions seem to be unaware of their importance, despite the global demands for Paramedics.
In September 2020, the Proprietors of Awgu Institute of Administration & Technology, then an affiliate of Enugu State University of Science & Technology sought the approval of the National Board for Technical Education to establish a Paramedic Training Institution and this gave birth to Awgu College of Medical Science & Health Technology.
The College got the approval of the Federal Ministry of Education on 23rd December, 2022, and was accredited by the National Board for Technical Education on 9th January, 2023, thus becoming the first and only Tertiary Institution offering National Innovation Diploma in Paramedics & Emergency Medical Technology in the country.
