Paramedic clinical decision-making: results of two Canadian studies

Paramedics make many decisions while caring for patients in the out-of-hospital setting, including clinical judgments, such as assessment, treatment and transport decisions. As the decisions paramedics make can have an impact on patient safety and clinical outcome, it is important to focus on which clinical decisions are most important, when paramedics are required these, and how paramedics make clinical decisions, that is, what thinking strategies they rely on. This article will present the results of two recent Canadian studies, and will discuss the implications for paramedic clinical practice, education and research on this topic.