Healthcare delivery is changing: embrace or resist?

Regardless of where we practice emergency medical services (EMS) we all have the same basic goal; to provide care to those who are sick or injured. Worldwide the paramedic profession is in a state of transformation. Change is occurring on many levels. Some big ticket items spring to mind:

To adapt and exploit change we need to define our professional role and understand where we fit into the healthcare delivery model. This is a complex question for paramedics due to the diversity of practice situations globally. Ultimately, this diversity of practice contexts could be our ‘Achilles heel’ which makes consensus difficult. Regardless of profession, clear vision is required to make true transformational change. Also required is the support of the people in the profession; the adjustment of the services on offer and the processes which are involved in the delivery of those services.