Advanced paramedics and wound care: what is their role?

The role of the paramedic has evolved rapidly over the last five years. As a result of paramedic career development locally, Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge has, and is, seeing paramedics joining the MSc in advanced practice pathway. The inclusion of paramedics to the wound management module has been a welcome addition, and has generated productive classroom discussions around their role and scope of practice within wound care. This article sets the context for a series of articles looking at the role of advanced paramedics in the following areas: assessment of patients with regard to their risk for PU development; which risk assessment tool to use; prevention of PUs in the ambulance; and the management of skin tears.