Nathan Cusack

Nathan has an interest in teaching and research relating to the Paramedic profession. He has acquired ten years of experience working in the emergency services and he joined ARU in 2017.

Background

Nathan started his foundation degree in Paramedic Science at the University of Hertfordshire in 2007. From 2008 he was contracted to work part-time as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) with the London Ambulance Service (LAS) and when he completed his studies in 2010 he stayed with the LAS as a Paramedic for a further three years.

In 2013 he moved to work in the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) with the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST), specialising in treating patients in areas such urban search and rescue (USAR), non-breathable atmospheres, working at height, etc. He was also seconded with the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS).

In 2017 Nathan left the ambulance service full-time to work at ARU, however he keeps his skills up to date, with occasional shifts with London Ambulance Service. Nathan is the module lead for Trauma Skills.

Research interests

• Pre-hospital emergency management
• Pre-hospital/out-of-hospital patient assessment and management

Pre-hospital emergency research is surprisingly limited compared to other areas of healthcare. There are a number of reasons for this, including historically limited involvement of Paramedics in research. However, this is changing across the UK with more and more Paramedics turning to research and even gaining PhDs.

There are commonly accepted practices in the pre-hospital environment that need more research to identify if they are appropriate/effective; a recent study called the PARAMEDIC-2 trial (2018) looked at the effectiveness of adrenaline in cardiac arrest which provided interesting results. Nathan has a keen interest to contribute to research in pre-hospital emergency management and general patient assessment and management to help develop patient care.

Teaching

BSc (Hons) Paramedic Science

Qualifications

• MSc Advanced Practice (Clinical) – current, Anglia Ruskin University
• PGCert in Higher Education, Anglia Ruskin University
• BSc (Hons) in Geography, University of Reading
• FdSc in Paramedic Science, University of Hertfordshire
• CertHE in Specialist Rescue, Coventry University

Memberships, editorial boards

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Member of the College of Paramedics (MCPara)