----- Original Message -----
From: "Martyn Hodson"
> > Basically this needs to be carefully thought through. At the end of the
> > day these are very expensive drugs with very serious side-effects; I
just
> > don't see paramedics in my patch taking on this level of responsibility,
at
> > least not when judging by the levels of decision making that they're
> > currently required to undertake. [AF]
>
> i suppose the same arguements were trotted out when acute chest pain
> specialist nurses were first proposed? [MH]
Not at all comparable, Martyn. Chest pain nurses have mostly been "bred"
from CCU backgrounds, where they've spent years dealing solely with cardiac
patients, and interpreting 12-lead ECGs to a high degree of competence. This
is a world of difference from a general paramedic's experience of chest pain
and ECG interpretation.
Adrian Fogarty
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