Paramedics practice ‘‘in the street’’ and perform in ‘‘a context rife with chaotic, dangerous, and often uncontrollable elements with which hospital-based practitioners need not contend’ We knew that, but what isn’t known is how more experienced or expert paramedics differ from novices in scene management. This qualitative study involving interviews of 24 paramedics describes the ‘space control theory’ – how paramedics establish control over their immediate workspace to effectively deliver patient care. It’s not big on detail, but at least this paper documents for hospital-based ambulance medical advisors that there is more to paramedicine than purely clinical factors, which is why insistence on hospital-derived clinical treatment algorithms might sometimes be inappropriate in the field. I’ve emailed the author for more details.
Introduction to the ‘‘space-control theory of paramedic scene management’’
Emerg Med J. 2009 Mar;26(3):213-6