The health promotion is a primary focus of contemporary health systems, and all health care roles in the medical field seek to play a role in the health promotion process. Paramedics are health care practitioners with the responsibility of delivering emergency medical care to critically ill patients before they are taken to the health care facility a role that surfaced in the 1960s (1). The role of paramedics has advanced since then evolved significantly beyond offering only emergency care to playing several other significant roles outside of the hospital to promote health (1). Therefore, this paper discusses the role of paramedics in health promotion.

Paramedics are promoting health by spreading healthcare to the community. Part of the evolution in the role of paramedics in health care is to take healthcare to the ground level by reaching the people in their communities (2). The expansion of healthcare to the community has developed across the globe due to the contemporary challenges in medical care such as new development of disease and diversification of health care needs. Paramedics with their expertise in the provision of health care outside the hospital have thus been a human resource since they are especially mobile within the communities. Paramedics’ facilities are being established in the communities and have proven effective in addressing the social determinants of health and quality of healthcare (3). In the community, the paramedics play roles such as management of urgent but less delicate sicknesses and injuries in the neighborhoods; thus they promote health in the localities by ensuring accessibility and efficiency at the community level.

Paramedics are also promoting health through health education at rural and metropolitan levels. Health education is becoming increasingly important in health promotion with the increase in lifestyles role in community health. The expansion of paramedics’ role to community health education has helped overcome health challenges emerging from geographical challenges and limited healthcare personnel (4). Paramedics are more mobile and acquitted with remote localities and the health education needs of the areas. Also, having the paramedics take on more roles has enabled the distribution of health acre roles among health care practitioners to curb the inadequacy of medical personnel to meet the modern day health care needs (4). By educating the local people, paramedics also reduce the number of health care cases thus easing the pressure of the low health care workforce at the hospitals thus promoting health. The role of health education by paramedics has proven effective in health promotion. For instance, a study to assess the effectiveness of health education programs among the elderly residents in the community showed that the education initiatives are significant in reducing emergency calls, diabetics’ risks, and blood pressure cases (5). Therefore, paramedics’ health education programs in the community are promoting health by reducing health cases.

The role of paramedics in health care has expanded resulting in the identification of themes in healthcare regarding paramedics. The themes include paramedics as advocates for health, paramedics as essential personnel for developing trusting and caring relationships with patients and an added value of EMS skills (6). The prominence of the themes of health care is critical to health promotion. Developing trusting and caring relationships especially among patients and medical caregivers is integral to promoting patient-based care in the health care provision thus promoting health. Extensive advocacy for health and added EMS skills also aids in health care promotion. Without a doubt, paramedics being the most mobile part of the medical care providers come into contact with more people and thus have an opportunity to play a more significant role in health promotion (7). They can reach the sick and the healthy thus they can interact with them to reduce effects or prevent illnesses at a larger scale and inappropriate situations. PAramedics roles in promoting health care, therefore, range from preventing health care cases by preventing illness at the ground level, managing illness to such that they do not reach critical stages and making patients with critical cases have comfortable as possible by managing paid and distress early enough. For instance, a study of the expertise of paramedics in seizures management in England showed that increasing the paramedics’ access to medical history and improving their seizure management training would assist in promoting cost-effectiveness and reducing unnecessary transportation to the ED thus promoting health care (8). The provision indicates that equipping paramedics sufficiently with medical information and training for different conditions can reduce emergency cases and hospital expenditure in the emergency room thus promoting health.

In conclusion, the role of paramedics in promoting health is undeniable and critical. With the broadening and increasing cases and condition requiring health care and the limited health care personnel to meet the increasing needs, paramedics play a critical role in health promotion. Increased opportunity, knowledge through training, access and duties for paramedics in healthcare are all integral to enabling the role of paramedics in health promotion by sufficiently equipping them for the roles. Through the roles accorded paramedics, aspects of health promotion such as cost efficiency reduced medical cases, early medical care provision, efficient management of critical cases, time consciousness in treatment and prevention of illness and advancement of diseases a will be achieved.

References

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