The Hijacked Ambulance: Activation of the amygdala in paramedic care - a case study

Abstract

Paramedics work autonomously and often in uncon- trolled environments. As part of their role, para- medics are frequently expected to respond to, and manage complex cases, that vary for a variety of rea- sons. The scene findings may be clinically complex, operationally complex, personally complex, or a mixture of these and paramedics must demonstrate critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and good com- munication skills to ensure good scene management occurs. However, as robust as paramedicine stand- ardisation and benchmarked education are, each paramedic will experience a range of personal emo- tional responses at each scene.