The paramedics' role in safeguarding and protecting children and young people

The paramedic profession has for many years now been viewed by both the public, and to an extent by itself, as merely a transportation service that deals solely with emergency life–threatening cases. However, a string of publications dating as far back as 1966 have challenged this view, driving forward evolutionary educational change that constantly questions what it actually means to be a paramedic and the care they provide (Millar, 1966; Kilner, 2004; Bradley, 2005; Taylor, 2010; Association of ambulance chief executives (AACE), 2011; Brady and Haddow, 2011; Brady, 2012). Most recently Brady (2012) has questioned the attitudes paramedics hold towards psychosocial care and their role in providing it; something which for many years has been deemed as irrelevant to paramedicine and not part of their workload. Although not seen with the same potential professional disregard as pre-hospital psychosociology, the protection and safeguarding of children is another area in which paramedic involvement is integral, yet perhaps misunderstood. Paramedics undoubtedly see themselves as having a role in the protection and safeguarding of children, but the author questions to what extent they fully comprehend that role, the underpinning knowledge required and the psychosocial factors involved; leading the author to call for more in-depth education and an investigation into their current understanding.