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PAR-40047 - Module Specification
School of Medicine
Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

PAR-40047 - Introduction to Critical Care Practice for Paramedics
Coordinator: Sean Ferguson Room: N/A
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 7
Credits: 15
Study Hours: 150
School Office: 01782 733928

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

The Introduction to Critical Care Practice for Paramedics module will provide you with comprehensive and detailed knowledge, skills, and understanding to provide care to service users alongside pre-hospital critical care practitioners and critical care teams. Detailed pharmacology of drugs used in pre-hospital critical care management is explored in addition to advanced clinical interventions and comprehensive knowledge of critical care transport and retrieval. Assessment for the module will demonstrate your detailed and comprehensive knowledge and understanding and will test your ability to undertake a systemic and comprehensive clinical examination of a critically ill or injured patient, demonstrating complex decision-making skills and initiating treatment.

Aims
The Introduction to Critical Care Practice for Paramedics module will provide students with comprehensive and detailed knowledge, skills, and understanding to provide care to service users alongside pre-hospital critical care practitioners and critical care teams. Advanced patient assessment, and management including advanced clinical and pharmacological interventions to stabilise the critically ill or injured patient will be core themes for the module.


Talis Aspire Reading List
Any reading lists will be provided by the start of the course.
http://lists.lib.keele.ac.uk/modules/par-40047/lists

Intended Learning Outcomes

Critically apply underpinning knowledge in the assessment and management of advanced airway, respiratory, and cardiovascular critical care scenarios: 2
Critically analyse pharmacology of the key drugs/agents used in the critical care management of airway, breathing and circulatory emergencies to include anaesthesia/analgesia, fluid and endocrinal therapies and critically evaluate their effectiveness.
: 2
Synthesise knowledge and understanding of relevant anatomy, pathophysiology and pharmacology and apply this appropriately to the management of the critically ill and/or injured patient.
: 1
Demonstrate a detailed and comprehensive understanding of the complexities of decision-making in multi-disciplinary teams when retrieving and transporting critically ill and/or injured patients.: 2

Study hours

Lead Lectures - 20 hours
Demonstrations - 10 hours
Case studies - 4 hours
Clinical skills and Simulation - 10 hours
Independent Study - 106 hours to cover:
Directed reading - 24 hours
Independent research - 60
Assessment preparation - 22

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Objective Structured Skills & Clinical Examination weighted 30%
Objectively Structured Skills Examination - 20 minutes
This assessment will be based on a single complex case scenario of a critically injured or ill patient where the student will be assessed on their clinical management, interpersonal skills and critical understanding of decision-making within MDT critical care teams during management and transportation of patients.

2: Assignment weighted 70%
2500 Word Assignment
2500-word assignment requiring the student to consider a pre-determined clinical scenario and critically discuss the pathophysiology, clinical presentation and both pre-hospital and relevant hospital management of the patient

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025