Assignment tips for PARA2005
General tips:
1. Choose one of the 2 scenarios
2. Based on the primary information in the brief description of scenario, design your
case, firstly through defining a list of primary signs and symptoms for the case.
3. In defining the signs/symptoms consider two points:
a) If the signs/symptoms are related to the situation
b) Where do you want to go by them? Make sure that you can make a strong link
between signs/symptoms and your diagnoses.
4. Define your diagnoses (at least two for each case).
5. Explain the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms for your diagnoses. In the
other word, what occurs at the tissue or cellular level that causes those
signs/symptoms and leads you to your diagnoses?
6. Describe your pre-hospital management, including Critique of intervention from
literature.
7. Briefly review the other steps of management after delivering the case to hospital.
8. You are allowed to add pictures or tables, if you wish (with citing the reference). The
numbers of the words in images, tables and reference list will not be considered as a
part of 3000 words limitation of your assignment.

More Tips:
[These are your notes which will be converted into prose for this assignment]
Potential diagnosis
Potential Cardiac arrest from lethal
arrhythmia due to low potassium K+

Pathophysiology
Underlying Diagnosis

Paramedic clinical practice
interventions

Critique of interventions from
literature

The heart relies on its internal
pacemaker (SA node) and
superconductive pathway to
generate and disseminate cardiac
action potentials. These action
potentials cause the contraction of
cardiac muscle tissues and the
effective propulsion of blood
throughout the body. The sodium
potassium exchange across the
cardiac cell membrane is required to
activate an action potential and
contraction of the cardiac muscle.
Abnormal electrolytes, in particular
potassium cause abnormal
conduction of the action potential
may cause delayed conduction or
increased cardiac irritability leading
to ineffectual cardiac muscle
function and thus catastrophic heat
failure. (Morton & Fontaine 2009)
(Reference)

Cardiac monitoring
•
Attach defibrillation monitor
& encourage early
defibrillation should
defibable arrhythmia occur
•
Continuous Monitoring of
patients cardiac rhythm,
•
1/24 vital signs eg BP. P RR
SaO2 checks
•
Regular checks and
management of electrolyte
balances
•
12 lead ECG
•
CPR & Medication
management of arrhythmia
•
(Referenced)

Critique each of the clinical
practice intervention, defending is
validity or not from the current
literature linking this to the
underlying pathophysiology of the
potential diagnosis identified.
(Referenced)

Introduction

All in prose, sort of like an essay introduction
Introduce the patient….
Explain your observation
List signs/symptoms
[consider ISBAR format]
Point what you will talk about later:
he issues that will be discussed are……….
They have been chosen because…….

Differential diagnosis (2-3 problems, minimum 2)

Make sure that you include the pathophysiology behind the diagnosis (with Reference).
Differential diagnosis – Potential Cardiac arrest from lethal arrhythmia due to low potassium (K+)
The heart relies on its internal pacemaker (SA node) and superconductive pathway to generate and
disseminate cardiac action potentials. These action potentials cause the contraction of cardiac muscle
tissues and the effective propulsion of blood throughout the body. The sodium potassium exchange across
the cardiac cell membrane is required to activate an action potential and contraction of the cardiac muscle.
Abnormal electrolytes, in particular potassium cause abnormal conduction of the action potential may

cause delayed conduction or increased cardiac irritability leading to ineffectual cardiac muscle function and
thus catastrophic heat failure. ……… (more detail required)……… (Morton & Fontaine 2009)(Reference)

Paramedic Intervention and Rationale
(What interventions (CPGs) are you doing and why are you doing them)
The interventions that will address the issue of potential arrhythmias are as follows.
————————————————————————————————————————-Working example of transferring bullet points into sentences
1. Continuous monitoring of patients cardiac rhythm, & attach defibrillation monitor & encourage early
defibrillation should defibable arrhythmia occur
2. 15/60 vital signs – BP, PR, RR, SaO2
3. 12 lead ECG
4. Regular checks and management of electrolyte balances
5. CPR & Medication management of arrhythmia
(Referenced)
————————————————————————————————————————–

(Intervention 1 in prose format, you will need to be more comprehensive in your assignment)
Attachment and monitoring of the defibrillator and monitoring of the cardiac patient during
transport allows for the early defibrillation and reverting of cardiac arrhythmias. Early defibrillation
has been shown to have increased success at reverting lethal arrhythmias and preventing death in a
cardiac arrest (Ref1, Ref 2, Ref 3,.……)……… )……………(Morton & Fontaine 2009)

Future Intervention (briefly)
Discuss in hospital and/or long term management, briefly.
The patient will be admitted in CCU…..
Subarachnoid hemorrhage will be confirmed through MRI….

Conclusion (sort of like an essay conclusion)
Avoid repeating the details that you have just explained previously. It should be a brief
summary of the main points in your essay.
We’ve discussed ….
We’ve identified potential diagnoses such as….
These potential diagnoses should be addressed by the paramedic interventions as described
above (or briefly summarized, such as frequent movement in the bed).

Avoid including the information that has not been discussed in your essay

Reference list
Harvard Style

A) Journal Articles:
The in-text citation in your assignment:
Argibay-losada et al. (2010) showed that….

If you quote directly from an author or paraphrase a specific idea or piece of information from
a source, you need to include the page number of the quote or passage in your in-text citation
Argibay-losada et al. (2010, p. 263)

The reference list at the end of your assignment:
Journal article: Author, Initial(s) Year of publication, ‘Article Title’, Journal Title, volume
number, issue number, page numbers.
Argibay-losada, P, Suarez-Gonzalez, A, Lopez-Garcia, C & Fernandez-Veiga, M 2010, ‘Flow
splitting for end-to-end proportional QoS in OBS networks’, IEEE Transactions on
Communications, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 257-269.

B) Books:
The in-text citation in your assignment:
The process involves… (Gabler et al. 2012, p. 68).
The reference list at the end of your assignment:
Author, Initial(s), Author, Initial(s), Author, Initial(s), & Author, Initial(s) Year of publication,
Title, edn (edition), Publisher, Place of publication.

Gabler, M, Lienhard, J, Cremers, J & Knippers, J 2011, Construction manual for polymers +
membranes: materials semi-finished products, form-finding design, 3rd edn, Birkhauser
Architecture, Basel.
Lecture note will not be considered as a reference.