In 1993, a report from the Irish government [2] stated that the ambulance

service “forms a valued and integral part of the emergency services” and “was used as an extension of the hospital service with the objective of getting the patient into hospital as quickly as possible so that advanced medical treatment could be provided by a medical practitioner”, thus implying: 1) that advanced medical treatment could only commence within a hospital and 2) that the only purpose of the ambulance service was to provide transport for patients. The same report further recommended significant improvement in the quality of training provided to ambulance personnel. Reflecting Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical its most recent iteration, this recommendation is furthered in the PHECC strategic plan (2011–2014) where the need to develop and implement a continuing professional competence (CPC) framework was stated [3]. However, translating advances in care guidelines into actual care delivered to patients poses many challenges associated with the effective acquisition of new knowledge and practical skills in addition Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to maintenance

of existing expertise. Previous studies have assessed Paramedic and Advanced Paramedic training and continuing education in Ireland [4-7]. However, in this study, we wished to determine, for the first time, the attitudes of Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical EMTs in Ireland towards CPC, their suggested outcomes / preferred delivery format and relevance to their roles. We devised a short answer survey, based on similar questionnaires used by other professions [8-12], to determine current EMT demographics, CPC activities, and attitudes towards effectiveness of the varying training methods employed. It is hoped that this information will inform future CPC programme development. Methods Participants In July and August 2012, all EMTs Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical licensed to practice in Ireland and registered with the Pre-hospital Emergency

Care Council’s (PHECC) (n=925) were contacted by email. Questions were entered into a Survey Monkey™ online questionnaire (http://www.surveymonkey.com). A link was provided to the survey and to a concise, inhibitors unbiased explanation Sodium butyrate of the survey topic. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Consent to participate was recorded. Conduction of the study and its design, taking into consideration published healthcare professions’ questionnaires relating to continuous professional development (CPD) [9-11,13], were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, University of Limerick, Ireland and the Research Ethics Committee of the Health Services Executive Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, Ireland. Data collection and analysis Health professionals are increasingly expected to identify their own learning needs through self-assessment [14,15].