 The development of the profession has been a gradual move from simply transporting patients to hospital, to more advanced treatments in the field.In some countries, the paramedic may take on the role as part of a system to prevent hospitalisation entirely and, through practitioners, are able to prescribe certain medications, or undertaking 'see and refer' visits, where the paramedic directly refers a patient to specialist services without taking them to hospital.Throughout the evolution of pre-hospitalisation care, there has been an ongoing association with military conflict.