Excellence in Staff Development Ambulance Victoria’s Enhanced Clinical Practice support Ambulance Victoria

Throughout 2021 and 2022, the Medical Directorate introduced two new modes of sharing changes in clinical practice:

Ambulance Victoria (AV) has introduced new ways to inform and engage operational staff and volunteers in changes to Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG). Over the past two years, AV has produced and shared podcasts and video recordings to enable and support paramedics to stay abreast of evolutions in guidelines, in a way that complements existing communications (such as email updates) while providing them with the information they need to provide Best Care to AV’s patients in a more succinct, dynamic and engaging way.

In recognition of the variety of ways people learn (not just through written communications or formal education), and best practice in information sharing, AV’s Medical Directorate team, which is responsible for keeping staff and volunteers updated about CPG changes, identified new approaches to share with paramedics the information they need to perform their role.

• Walkthrough videos to mark each CPG update: short, simple, plain language ‘explainer’ videos that walk paramedics through the intended use of a CPG.

• Podcasts providing more in-depth discussions about clinical changes, featuring interviews with relevant experts.

Podcasts are popular in medical and clinical fields, as they open up a way for people to learn in a non-written way, and at times when they can deeply engage, such as when exercising or driving. Walkthrough (or ‘explainer’) videos are a new idea in healthcare education, and are a great way to convert complex clinical information into bite-sized content, enabling them to be delivered succinctly and, importantly, in a timely manner.

These resources enable AV staff and volunteers to learn in their own way, in their own time, and from any location. For example, AV staff and volunteers are able to listen to the podcasts while travelling to and from their shift. This has been particularly beneficial given the variety and number of changes and information that paramedics continue to be required to absorb during the ongoing COVID-19 paramedic.