Can advanced paramedics in the field diagnose patients and predict hospital admission?

Background: Accurate patient diagnosis in the prehospital environment is essential to initiate suitable care pathways. The advanced paramedic (AP) is a relatively recent role in Ireland, and refers to a prehospital practitioner with advanced life-support skills and training.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to compare the diagnostic decisions of APs with emergency medicine (EM) physicians, and to investigate if APs, as currently trained, can predict the requirement for hospital admission.