AAACE 2021 Annual Conference

Ethics, decision making, CPE, expertise

The Learning EMS Ethics Project (LEEP) analyzes how experienced paramedics build ethical decision making capacity in the field.  Framed with theory on developing expertise and expert performance in high stakes situations, the study include theoretical and practice implications in Continuing Professional/Medical Education (CPE/CME), experiential and mastery learning.

Pre-hospital care is what most lay audiences associate with calling ‘911’ and receiving emergency medical responses prior to or outside of a hospital environment. Given its’ presence in real-world settings, paramedics are often faced with fast-paced, high stakes decisions during situations where time is of the essence. This study investigates how EMS professionals acquire and build expert judgment in fast paced high stakes ethical situations. The researchers conducted 24 qualitative in-depth interviews with experienced EMS professionals. The study was framed with experiential and occupational expertise and mastery learning theory, and Iserson’s model of ethics and decision making in emergency medicine. The findings presented and discussed will include exploration of: 1) The role of daily work experience in recognizing and addressing ethical decision making situations; 2) The ways that pre-hospital settings may influence decision making and subsequent reflections on past dilemmas; 3) The influences and intersection of professional identity, formal education, CPE/CME, and experience; 4) The importance of international momentum in paramedic ethical decision making and expert capacity building in United States CPE and CME education, policies and practices 5) The future contributions of theory on expertise development and mastery learning to analyzing complex workplace and community learning.