The time-course of visual scanning behaviour of paramedicine students upon arrival at a simulated emergency call.

BACKGROUND: Limited knowledge exists regarding how paramedics acquire an understanding of the scene they encounter upon arrival, despite their need to quickly gather information for effective clinical decision-making. This study examined visual scanning behaviour during the early stages of simulated emergency calls. METHODS: Eye movements of 10 paramedicine students were recorded during simulated calls conducted in both a high-fidelity classroom setting and a full sensory immersion setting. RESULTS: Students focused on similar areas in both settings, with most time spent looking at the patient rather than distractors such as room features or other people. Analysis of gaze behaviour across the first five minutes revealed a more nuanced pattern: attention initially gravitated towards distractors but decreased as students became familiar with their surroundings and focused on the task at hand. This pattern was consistent across both simulation settings, indicating that information-seeking strategies may be independent of scene complexity. CONCLUSIONS: Expertise relies on the ability to differentiate between relevant and irrelevant information. Given the unpredictable nature of their work, paramedics must continuously adapt their understanding of a scene from the moment they enter it. Understanding how this skill develops may help identify expert strategies to inform training of novice paramedics.

The Efficacy of Near-Peer Teaching in Paramedicine Education: a Literature Review.

The transition of paramedic practice to paramedicine benchmarked by higher education programs has identified practical skills acquisition difficulty. Pedagogical interventions for health-related education programs advocate for strategies such as near-peer teaching as a viable solution to address these challenges. However, there remains a paucity of published literature on paramedicine-specific near-peer programs. This systematic review aimed to identify research that described or documented paramedicine-specific near-peer teaching programs and categorize the outcomes to better understand the perceived benefit of NPT in paramedicine education.