VIRTUAL PRESENTATION CLINIC - VALUE AS A TRAINING RESOURCE

The Narcaid Virtual Presentation Clinic (VPC) is a new on-line resource designed to help pre-hospital care professionals in their management of drug related incidents. It provides access to information on a wide range of the drugs which they commonly encounter, real life case studies, emergency alerts, a street language dictionary and an interactive tutorial facility. The strengths of the VPC are its accuracy, flexibility/versatility and cost-effectiveness. More specifically:

• It provides is a research-based, up-to-date reflection of what UK ambulance crews are encountering. It is not a resource designed for other professional groups.
• Real life case studies taken from the students’ own work environment bring the material to life and make it memorable.
• The interactive tutorial facility provides a personal connection between the student and the staff of the ECODA Unit, the world’s only specialist training unit designed to support paramedics in their management of drug related incidents. It is an opportunity for every member to ask questions specific to their own experience and seek closure for the cases they have encountered.
• The clinic is growing constantly as new members join and submit their experiences and questions, and the knowledge they bring then becomes available to others. The VPC is truly a resource developed by, and for, ambulance crews.
• The clinic is easy to access by anyone with an Internet connection, is available 24/7 (ideal for a profession working a variety of shifts), can be used at work or at home, requires no sophisticated computer software, and for those who prefer to study on paper, all materials are downloadable. It is designed to be dipped into and out of quickly for those using it at work or otherwise extremely busy with other commitments. Full email and phone line support is available for anyone who is not particularly IT literate and the site is easily navigated and user-friendly.
• The clinic is a truly cost-effective means of obtaining CPD, both for the self-funding member (who can pay by credit card online) and for the employer, who can obtain discount on block licence purchase. A CPD certificate of membership prints off from the site for each member complete with name. Employers do not need to remove crews from active duty in order to provide classroom based training.
• The clinic, by nature of its online presence, can be adapted very quickly according to student need and substance misuse trends. Any report made to the unit about a specific drug can be converted into a bulletin within hours, informing other crews of potential dangers. No written course could ever keep up with a clinical field at this pace.

View details on the Block License Scheme

User Testimony

“I picked up a patient who told me she had taken a “disco biscuit”. Not being well up on these things, I had a look in the clinic’s street language lexicon and discovered that this was a name for ecstasy. This led me to the ecstasy bulletin where I was able to learn more about this drug and the attached case study really rang some bells, as there were so many similarities to the case I’d had. There was still one unanswered question in my mind, so I sent it off via the interactive tutorial and the answer came back really quickly. After that, I felt so much more confident that if I got another ecstasy related case I would really understand what I was seeing.

Hey presto, just a few days later, I picked up another one! This time I was able to have a really good conversation with the young person involved because I knew so much more. I was able to explain to him what the drug was doing to his body and he really seemed to listen. Even though the care given remained the same, just knowing this stuff helps you to be more confident and connect better with the patient.”

J.B., paramedic.

The service offered by the Narcaid ECODA Unit is designed for professional ambulance personnel and other emergency care practitioners. Our training programmes are designed to teach drug awareness (rather than medical skills) to inform clinical judgment. Individual clinical judgment must be exercised in each presentation according to pre-existing training.