The partnership has been forged by the newly formed Continuing Professional Development Unit of Charles Sturt University CSUAdvance and the paramedic program of the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences.

Four specially selected paramedic students have already participated in two high-level NSW Police Force special operations exercises in Sydney last year and in Goulburn earlier this year. The exercises involved specialist police in the Protection Operations Unit, fire brigade and paramedic personnel, and included several distinct scenarios, including a shooting mass casualty incident.

Ms Judy Doulman, the business programs coordinator at CSUAdvance said, "This is the beginning of an ongoing partnership that offers unique opportunities for our students to work with and be trained by professionals with expertise in their own sector (education, policing and paramedics).

"The knowledge and skills used by the students in these scenarios are the same that the NSW Police Force and colleagues who work in 'close protection' will be learning when they start the Emergency Protective Patient Care program being developed by CSUAdvance and the School of Biomedical Sciences specifically for the Protection Operations Sector, starting in 2014."

The two second-year students who undertook the role of paramedics in the Goulburn exercise were mentored by a third-year paramedic student who took part in the exercise in Sydney last year. All students are employed as peer tutors for the CSU paramedic program to support the academic staff to deliver tutorials and practical sessions.

"The students are included as professionals and learn from the experience," Ms Doulman said. "We deliberately don't tell them too much about what to expect, and for this training we agreed that they were to be challenged in stressful situations."

Mr Sandy MacQuarrie, lecturer in paramedicine in the CSU School of Biomedical Sciences said, "The world of emergency services relies on the ability to quickly and effectively communicate.

"Lives depend on it. Our CSU paramedic students are learning these invaluable skills in highly effective scenarios with the NSW Police Counter-Terrorism Unit and Special Tactics Command. As a paramedic educator, I cannot state strongly enough how much students gain from this. This level of professionalism is a trait not easy to embed in the new paramedic. This initiative drives it home. There was a definite improvement in the students' performance from scenario to scenario."

CSU paramedic student Ms Belinda Ewers participated in the training event in Sydney last December.

"The opportunity to participate in the 'Guardian Viper' exercise in Sydney was invaluable to my knowledge and experience in mass casualty incidents and scene management," Ms Ewers said. "I was able to consolidate my university learning and also gain new skills and experiences. Throughout the scenarios my confidence grew and my performance was vastly improved by the feedback received from paramedic mentors and the lessons learned from my mistakes. I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to participate in an exercise that involved so many professionals and to learn from their expertise and vast experience. I am excited that this partnership between the University and NSW Police will continue so that future students have the same opportunities to enhance their skills and learn in such a real and high pressure environment."

Skills that the paramedic students use and develop through the exercises include effective and time-critical patient care; effective leadership; effective and appropriate decision-making; appropriate delegation; effective communication with police in situations of duress; and the ability to adapt both in medical and trauma situations. They will continue to reflect on their experiences through on-going activities.