Important Assessment information — Please read

Every effort has been made to ensure the contents of assessment packages, learning materials and College documents are free from errors or omissions. However, you should conduct your own enquiries and seek professional advice where necessary before relying on the facts, statements, or materials contained in this assessment pack. International Paramedic College is not responsible for any injury, loss, or damage resulting from material included in or omitted from this assessment pack resource.
Information in our training and assessment packages is current at the time of publication.
Our courses may have a world-wide audience and emergency laws and regulations vary from state to state and country to country, so this course cannot be definitive on all legal issues for your workplace or location. This information is not legal advice and is for guidance only. When in doubt, always seek legal counsel.
All workers, regardless of their field or profession, operate within a legal and ethical framework. This simply means that we all work within the boundaries defined by applicable laws and ethical standards. This study guide aims to provide the healthcare worker with a sound introduction to the legal aspects of working within an ambulance environment.
As a healthcare worker, you have legal obligations to yourself, your patients, the organisation in which you work and your co-workers. To meet these obligations, it is important to know the laws that relate to your work and ensure you carry out your work role in accordance with those laws.

The Assessment Process – An Introduction

You will have been provided with access to International Paramedic College’s (IPC) course learning materials, and it is expected that you have read and understood the content prior to starting the assessments. You will have been advised of any specific learning materials or resources required for your assessment.

We use a range of assessment methods to gather evidence of your knowledge and applied skills for a unit or qualification.

What is Competency-Based Assessment?

Competency-based assessment is the process of gathering evidence to confirm that participants can perform the required skills and knowledge for the unit or course they are enrolled in. To complete a unit of competency, participants are required to successfully demonstrate their skills and knowledge in all the activities within this assessment. Rather than using a marking scale, competency-based assessment determines competency as either 'competent' or 'not yet competent'.
You are required to successfully demonstrate competence in all the activities in this assessment. If you are unable to answer a question, your answer is deemed not satisfactory. For any of the assessment activities where you are unable to satisfactorily demonstrate competence, your assessor will work with you to identify opportunities for further training if required and arrange re-assessment when you are ready or at the end of the session.
If you are unable to demonstrate your ability in any area of the assessment, you will be re-assessed. Re-assessment may include demonstrating a skill, answering questions, or providing further information. All participants are given two opportunities to be reassessed without further payment required. On occasions where participants are unable to demonstrate competency after two re-assessment attempts, they will be required to re-enrol in the unit(s) or directed back to the learning materials to review before any reassessment.

Effective assessment must follow the principles of assessment

The Australian Government Quality Skills Authority requires training organisations to follow the principles of assessment it has stated as:

Fairness

• The individual learner’s needs are considered in the assessment process.
• Where appropriate, reasonable adjustments are applied by the RTO to take into account the individual learner’s needs.
• The RTO informs the learner about the assessment process and provides the learner with the opportunity to challenge the result of the assessment and be reassessed if necessary.

Flexibility

Assessment is flexible to the individual learner by:

• reflecting the learner’s needs
• assessing competencies held by the learner, no matter how or where they have been acquired
• drawing from a range of assessment methods and using those that are appropriate to the context, the unit of competency and associated assessment requirements, and the individual.

Validity

Any assessment decision of the RTO is justified, based on the evidence of performance of the individual learner.

Validity requires:

• assessment against the unit/s of competency and the associated assessment requirements covers the broad range of skills and knowledge that are essential to competent performance
• assessment of knowledge and skills is integrated with their practical application
• assessment to be based on evidence that demonstrates that a learner could demonstrate these skills and knowledge in other similar situations
• judgement of competence is based on evidence of learner performance that is aligned to the unit/s of competency and associated assessment requirements.

Reliability

Evidence presented for assessment is consistently interpreted, and assessment results are comparable irrespective of the assessor conducting the assessment.

The rules of evidence

Students and assessors are reminded that the rules of evidence in assessment are that the assessment evidence provided by the student for the assessment tasks have

Validity

The assessor is assured that the learner has the skills, knowledge and attributes as described in the module or unit of competency and associated assessment requirements.

Sufficiency

The assessor is assured that the quality, quantity, and relevance of the assessment evidence enables a judgement to be made of a learner’s competency.

Authenticity

The assessor is assured that the evidence presented for assessment is the learner’s own work.

Currency

The assessor is assured that the assessment evidence demonstrates current competency. This requires the assessment evidence to be from the present or the very recent past.

Authenticity of work

By submission of your assessment tasks, students are declaring that the work submitted for the unit is their own original work. You are confirming that you have completed all requirements for this assessment in accordance with the guidelines and scenarios provided in the learning resources for the unit, and have articulated your responses in your own words. Students should be aware that AI detection software is employed by the college, and by submitting work to us, you are affirming that you have fully adhered to the college’s policy on Plagiarism and the appropriate use of AI programs. You understand that the work you submit will be reviewed to determine your competency in the unit of study.

Students are requested to base their answers on the specific situations outlined in your learning resources for that unit. Please incorporate that knowledge as you address questions in the units.

We have a plagiarism and AI policy available on the student Information page of our website.

Assessment Appeals Procedure

For information on how to appeal an assessment decision, refer to the Complaints and Appeals Policy included in the Student Handbook available on the student Information page of our website.

 Questions & Answers

Depending on the question style, where appropriate, students are required to answer questions in their own words to demonstrate understanding. Questions can also be completed orally. You can answer the questions verbally with an assessor or another support person, such as a supervisor or mentor. When undertaking an oral assessment, you are required to answer the questions in your own words, and your assessor or support person is required to document your answers.

Learner Support

Learner support includes any educational and support services that a learner may need to assist them in their training.

We need to identify any particular requirements such as literacy, numeracy, English language or physical capabilities that learners would need to complete each course, and develop strategies to make support available where gaps are identified.

You will be asked at course registration to identify any support need you may need. This will be flagged to your trainer/assessor so they are aware and can provide appropriate support.

You should contact us to discuss any particular support requirements you may have before enrolment and to understand the physical requirements of CPR training as an example.

Plagiarism and the use of artificial intelligence programs (AI)

International Paramedic College (IPC) is committed to fostering a positive learning environment and nurturing strong relationships with our students. We aim for clarity regarding tasks and behavioural expectations to mitigate anxiety and prevent academic misconduct.

Authentic assessments are designed for students to undertake tasks that reflect real-world challenges, thereby demonstrating the practical application of essential knowledge and skills. Such tasks mirror those encountered in actual workplace settings, allowing for the use of diverse reference materials, expert consultations, and supervisory guidance (Sridharan & Mustard, 2015, p.4).

Plagiarism is taking and using someone else’s thoughts, writings or inventions and representing them as your own. Plagiarism is a serious act and may result in a participant’s exclusion from a module unit or a course. When you have any doubts about including the work of other authors in your assessments, please consult with your trainer or IPC administration team.

The following list outlines some of the actions for which a participant can be accused of plagiarism:

• Presenting any work by another individual as one’s own unintentionally
• Handing in assessments markedly similar to or copied from another student
• Presenting the work of another individual or group as their own work.
• Handing in assessments without the adequate acknowledgement or referencing of sources used, including assessments taken totally or in part from the internet or AI programs.
• Using artificial intelligence (AI) generated responses in assessment tasks without explicit instruction to do so.

As part of IPC’s policies, students may be asked to affirm that they will not utilise AI platforms, tools, or homework help websites for completing assessment tasks, acknowledging that such actions contravene IPC’s plagiarism policy.

Furthermore, students are prohibited from sharing assessment answers or any intellectual property with others or on any AI platform, tool, or homework help website, as this constitutes a breach of our policy.

By adhering to these guidelines, IPC students maintain the integrity of their educational journey, ensuring that their learning experience is both authentic and reflective of IPC’s commitment to excellence in paramedic education.

Procedures and Guidance for Students

Students should be guided by the learning materials and course textbooks when seeking to answer assessment tasks. Students short answer assessment tasks should be in “their own words” except when specifically asked for example to “list 5 causes of …….” As an example.

Students' answers to questions should be of sufficient depth to show an understanding of the question. Submissions may be returned to students asking for more depth and clarity in response to a question or questions

Reviews of student’s assessments submissions will be made and if the use of AI type programs or references that appear outside the learning materials and textbooks, we may ask that students resubmit work to us or reference their sources appropriately.

If an assessor has concerns that this plagiarism and AI policy has been breached, then the submitted assessment will be referred to the training manager for review.

The student may be asked to review their submission or provide evidence that the submission matches the rules of evidence, that the submission is the students own work. That may require re submission of the assessment with appropriate references or adjustments.

For online courses where a video is submitted as evidence, a photo ID may be requested from the assessor to confirm that it is the student performing the assessment tasks.

Students may be asked to follow a particular pathway progression through programs to enhance practical training and deliver optimal learning outcomes by building knowledge sequentially

Reviews of students’ assessments submissions will be made and if the use of AI type programs or references that appear outside the learning materials and textbooks, we may ask that students resubmit work to us or reference their sources.

Access to our Plagiarism and the use of AI Policy is available here

Individual workplaces

We are aware that the answers, information and projects completed will differ from one student to another depending on their workplace, Scope of practice, clinical practice guidelines and/or experience. We encourage you, wherever possible, to apply the requirements of your assessments to your workplace. We will use generic examples of Clinical Practice Guidelines as an industry basis for applying treatment modalities in accordance with current industry standards.

We are not assessing your ability against anyone else, and we do not compare your work to that of other students to determine if you are competent or not. We only assess your evidence to demonstrate the skills and knowledge to meet the requirements of the unit.

Where appropriate, your assessor will work with you and your supervisor, if employed, at the beginning of the unit to identify appropriate activities and/or projects that you can use when completing the assessment activities.  If your workplace does not have the required documents, resources, and/or equipment to undertake the training and assessment activities in a unit, we will provide access to generic examples of these for you.

You will find that if you are required to provide work samples, the activity asks you to use your workplaces template, forms, checklists, and policies. If your workplace does not have these, we will provide examples that you can work with.

Work Samples

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

In addition, the Student Handbook provides a guide to studying with us

Further information relevant to our assessment processes can be found in the Student Handbook, or you can contact the office or your trainer for a hard copy. Topics include:

• Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
• Credit Transfer (CT)
• Student Support
• Student Rights and Responsibility
• Reasonable adjustment
• Complaints and Assessment Appeals Procedure and Forms
• Issuing Certificates and Statements of Attainment
• Assessment Outcomes
• Reasonable Adjustment
• Submission of Assessments
• Authenticity of work
• Foundation Skills
• COVID-19 Adaptive measures

You can visit the student information page on our website here

Unique Student Identifier Number (USI)

From 1 January 2015, anyone undertakes nationally recognised training delivered by a Registered Training Organisation will need to have a Unique Student Identifier (USI). If you have not yet applied for a USI, you will have to do so before attending training with us.

Finding your USI Number

From 1 January 2015 anyone undertaking nationally recognised training delivered by a Registered Training Organisation will need to have a Unique Student Identifier (USI). If you have not yet applied for a USI, you will need to do so prior to attending training with us. To apply or to check if you already have a USI number is a very quick and painless online process at the Australian Government website www.usi.gov.au. Follow the prompts as a student. Click here to apply on-line or check your USI number.

If you require help in obtaining one, please contact the office. If you are unable or choose not to provide an USI, or have an exemption granted under the Student Identifiers Act 2014, then your training outcome will not be recorded on your USI account and will not be available in future years as part of the authenticated USI transcript service.

The USI transcript service is provided by the Australian Government, not by International Paramedic College. They request we provide student information to them annually in January. We do not add that information to their register, they do it. Please read the information they provide on their site titled "When will my training appear".
https://www.usi.gov.au/documents/your-usi-transcript
If you have any further queries, do not hesitate to contact us.

If you have undertaken any registered training since 2015, you may already have a USI.

If you don’t have one, applying is easy.

Click here to find your USI

If you require help in obtaining one, please contact the office. If you are unable or choose not to provide a USI, or have an exemption granted under the Student Identifiers Act 2014. Then your training outcome will not be recorded on your USI account and will not be available in future years as part of the authenticated USI transcript service. More information is available about USI numbers on our website here.

Submission of answers

We have a student services webpage that provides information for students here

Our student handbook, refunds, payment plans, terms, and conditions and our policies on are available in the footer of this website. Students can access these at any time. Information for students is provided in the student handbook or our FAQ page.

Review the student handbook provided by your IPC, which includes policies, procedures, and support services available to you.

Important course information — Please read

If you need to make any changes to your practical course date for CPR and First Aid type courses, a $35 admin fee will apply if you fail to provide 3 days notice by email or make multiple changes. If you are unable to attend for any reason, fees, and charges may be applied as per our Payments, refunds, and cancellation policy available here.

Any request to change your course booking, must be done by email

Course Fees and Payment Plans

The use of payment plans is covered by the autopay agreement when you sign up for a plan. Payment plans are not available to students under 18 years of age. Certificates or Statements of Attainment will not be issued until course fees are paid in full.

Our refund policy and any terms and conditions are available in the footer of our website.

Locations

Many of our courses are 100% online and self-paced. Our practical components, if applicable to your course, are held several times a week locally at our public venues. Location details and maps are provided on enrolment if practical attendance is required, for your convenience, or course location and venue information can be accessed here.

If you want training in your workplace or on-site, contact us here.

Course Requirements

Access to a computer with the internet, as well as basic computer skills access to technology assets to complete the online/ pre-course studies required for completion of this unit

Basic numeracy and literacy skills are needed to attend this course.

Access to a computer with internet access, as well as basic computer skills access to technology assets to complete the online/ pre-course studies required for completion of this unit

If you have ANY special needs (e.g., language/literacy/numeracy difficulties/ physical disabilities etc) that you think may impact on your ability to complete this training, please let us know before enrolling

Requirements for Completion

You must complete 100% of any training and satisfactorily complete all the competency-based assessment tasks in the units.

 Physical Requirements

If you suffer an allergy to latex products, please advise us. 

Practical activities involve training scenarios conducted at floor level and contact with other students/instructors. Please wear suitable clothing.

CPR, as an example, is a rigorous physical activity requiring you to compress the chest of a manikin downwards about a third of the chest depth continuously at 100 to 120 times a minute for a continuous period of 2 minutes. First aid and CPR type courses require you to perform 2 minutes of CPR on an adult manikin on the floor and two minutes of CPR on an infant on a firm surface. If you are doing a childcare type first aid course, you will be required to do an additional 2 minutes of CPR on a child manikin.  This requires a level of endurance, strength, and fitness appropriate to this task. If you have current physical injuries, medical problems or limitations, please discuss this with your trainer. You must don’t injure yourself or exacerbate an existing condition in training.

Other units of study may involve driving or moving patients, depending on the particular requirements of the unit. Please contact us before enrolment if you would like to discuss individual units.

The Assessment Process

We use a range of assessment methods to gather evidence of your knowledge and applied skills for this course. The assessment methods may include multiple choice questions, short written answers and practical activities. On enrolment in, you will be provided with access to International Paramedic College’s course learning materials; it is expected that you have read and understood the contents and completed any pre course learning before starting the assessments. Full information about the assessment requirements and course content is available below.

On enrolment, you will be provided with a login to our student portal to access online assessment tasks. We understand that this may not suit everybody. If you have particular requirements, please contact us. It is expected that you have read and understood the learning materials to develop your responses to the assessment tasks, and completed any assessment tasks as per the student instructions and with the learning materials for that module. The use of AI or software to generate answers to assessment takes is covered in our plagiarism and the use of AI policy available on our student information page or in the footer of our website.

Our express delivery option requires you to complete pre-course learning before attendance.

Learner Support

International Paramedic College is aware of the need to identify the individual support needs of learners and to provide access to educational and wellbeing support services to enable them to meet the requirements of the training product in which they are enrolled. Learner support includes any educational and support services that a learner may need to assist them in their training.

We will provide wellbeing support in the form of services and resources to assist with learners’ physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. This may be provided through one-on-one support by a designated staff member or through referral to appropriate external services where the individual’s needs are out with our professional abilities and expertise.

We need to identify any particular requirements such as literacy, numeracy, English language or physical capabilities that learners would have to complete each course, and develop strategies to make support available where gaps are identified.

You will be asked at course registration to identify any support need you may need. This will be flagged to your trainer/assessor so they are aware and can provide appropriate support.

You should contact us to discuss any particular support requirements you may have before enrolment, and to understand the physical requirements of CPR training as an example.

Emergency response training may be triggering or confronting for individuals

Reasonable Adjustment – Learning difficulties

Enrolment in this training requires participants to provide details on any learning or physical difficulties which may impact on their training outcomes. This may include any language, literacy, or numeracy issues.

Students may also discuss any special needs with your assessor, who may be able to make any required, reasonable adjustment to the assessments to meet these needs. Please note the requirements under physical activity below.

Reasonable adjustment may include access to paper-based assessments or limited additional time to complete online tasks due to technical difficulties or access issues to online assessment systems. Additional time, fees, or charges may apply for this delivery option.

Please note, to be deemed competent in any unit requiring CPR or first aid you must be physically able to perform the following (these requirements cannot be changed):

Uninterrupted CPR for at least 2 minutes on an adult manikin placed on the floor

Uninterrupted CPR infant manikin placed on a firm surface.

Additionally, childcare first aid students must perform uninterrupted CPR for at least 2 minutes on an adult manikin placed on the floor

Please speak with us before enrolment assessment if you have any concerns.

Students must have reasonable English language skills, as all units are assessed in English and access to a computer and the internet.

If you have particular requirements or well-being needs, please contact us to discuss your situation before enrolment

Language Literacy numeracy

Please notify us before enrolment if you have any Language Literacy or Numeracy issue. All assessments are conducted in English.

Language literacy and numeracy (LLN) assessment tool information

An 'ACSF Assessment Task/Tool' or 'LLN Assessment Task/Tool' is a diagnostic assessment tool used to determine an individual's language, literacy, and numeracy (LLN) skill levels.

The tasks typically consist of various reading, writing, maths and oral communication questions designed to be relevant to workplace tasks.

The idea is that the tools will help gauge a person's current LLN skill levels and identify whether they have the required LLN skills to effectively interact with information and complete tasks that would be commonplace in a certain job, and if not, where the areas of required support are.

While IPC is not involved in VET Loans, there are assessment tools and tasks provided that some students may like to use to assess LLN needs Information is available here

They can be accessed here at the Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Student interviews are conducted before enrolment in our qualifications like the

• HLT21020 Certificate II in Medical service first response
• HLT31220 – Certificate III in Basic Health Care
• HLT41120 Certificate IV in Healthcare
• HLT51020 – Diploma of Emergency Health Care

You can book your pre enrolment interview where any LLN issues can be discussed as well as the course content and details about assessment activities costs payment plans workplacemts etc

Please book an online zoom session time to discuss these and any other issues here with one of our paramedical trainers.

Student handbook

In addition, the Student Handbook provides a guide to studying with us

Requirements for Completion

You must complete 100% of the training course and satisfactorily complete all the competency-based assessment tasks. If you feel you may need some support to complete the learning or assessment tasks, either because of a literacy issue, a learning difficulty or a physical disability, please let us know. We may be able to make adjustments to our learning and assessment processes. Information concerning reasonable adjustment and the type of student support services we supply can be found in our Student Handbook.

Unique Student Identifier Number (USI)

From 1 January 2015, anyone undertakes nationally recognised training delivered by a Registered Training Organisation will need to have a Unique Student Identifier (USI). If you have not yet applied for a USI, you will have to do so before attending training with us.

Finding your USI Number

If you have undertaken any registered training since 2015, you may already have a USI.

If you don’t have one, applying is easy.

Click here to find your USI

If you require help in obtaining one, please contact the office. If you are unable or choose not to provide a USI, or have an exemption granted under the Student Identifiers Act 2014. Then your training outcome will not be recorded on your USI account and will not be available in future years as part of the authenticated USI transcript service. More information is available about USI numbers on our website here.

Recognition of Prior Learning — Credit transfer

We offer recognition of existing skills and knowledge, please refer to our Student Handbook or website here for more information.

If students have units with the same code number in qualifications they are completing with IPC they can apply for credit transfer. Please send the certificates or Statements of Attainments and transcripts so we can confirm those credit transfers with the issuing RTO.