Royal College of Paramedics

Mental capacity is often tested in the most complex, high-pressure moments of frontline care, where legal, ethical, and operational decisions must be made quickly and confidently. This session explores mental capacity assessment in practice through a case-based approach, examining the real-world challenges faced by emergency service professionals.

Drawing on specialist expertise in mental health law, the session highlights how clinicians can navigate uncertainty, apply legislation effectively, and make defensible decisions in the field. It also considers the wider implications for practice, education, and co-production, linking these insights back to current research in out-of-hospital care.

In this session, Joe Dent explores stroke recognition from the traditional FAST (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) assessment through to the subtle and posterior presentations it can miss. The session opens with FAST as a simple, rapid screening tool for identifying the more common presentations of stroke, to the critical importance of time in initiating urgent care and supporting early decision-making in out-of-hospital environments. It then builds on these principles to examine atypical stroke presentations, particularly posterior circulation strokes, where symptoms such as balance disturbance, visual changes and non-specific neurological deficits may go undetected by FAST alone.

Through a clinically focused, practical lens, the session highlights the need for better and more comprehensive education in stroke recognition, helping clinicians understand the limitations of traditional screening tools and recognise the wider range of possible presentations.

This session explores physiology-guided resuscitation and its growing role in improving outcomes from cardiac arrest. Physiology-guided approaches allow clinicians to tailor resuscitation in real time based on the patient's own physiological response, rather than relying on a fixed protocol alone. Underpinning this shift, however, remains the fundamental requirement for high-quality CPR: adapting care in response to physiology is only possible when that care, and its effect, can first be accurately measured.

This session examines how CPR feedback technology supports that measurement, enabling clinicians to monitor performance, make informed adjustments during resuscitation and move towards a more responsive, data-informed approach to cardiac arrest management. Through a practical, clinically grounded discussion, delegates will gain insight into how combining high-performance CPR with physiology-guided decision-making can enhance the quality and effectiveness of resuscitation in the out-of-hospital setting.

Stepping onto the road as a newly qualified paramedic is one of the most exciting, and challenging, moments in a clinician’s career. This session, delivered by Paramedic Mentor Harry Vines, explores the transition from Newly Qualified Paramedic through to Band 6, focusing on the practical realities of developing confidence and clinical autonomy on the frontline. Through a supportive, experience-led approach, the session examines key challenges, expectations, and opportunities encountered during this progression, highlighting how clinicians can consolidate foundational skills, adapt to increasing responsibility, and grow into autonomous practitioners within the out-of-hospital environment.

We encourage attendees to come and sit and eat lunch with us, meet CoP colleagues, hear about the benefits of our RTB programme

This session explores why physiologically guided resuscitation. now features in UK and International Resuscitation guidelines. What makes it different, what are it’s key targets and objectives and how can we reach them in trying to achieve ROSC.

The session will explore how to optimise CPR with manual and mechanical chest compression devices, the use of invasive blood pressure monitoring, drug strategies and synchronised ventilation to optimise the chances of achieving ROSC.

Finally, the session will present newly developed educational programs that optimise ALS (ARREST, ARREST plus) and those that take us truly ‘beyond ALS’ (SPEAR, ECPR)

Stay current with crucial updates in clinical practice, covering advancements in diagnosis, treatment modalities, and guideline revisions in just 30 minutes. This session will equip you with essential knowledge to enhance patient care and streamline decision-making processes.

Would you have made the right decision? Step into a remote consultation as it unfolds and experience every twist from the clinician's perspective. Discover how one overlooked question can completely change the outcome - and why the greatest challenge isn't making decisions without seeing the patient, but knowing what to ask next - presented by Class Professional.