For Students: 6 Second ECG Simulator

Just thought I'd share this quickly for those Student Paramedics out there that stumble across this.

A colleague first showed the 6 Second ECG Simulator to me and it's a good way to pass 10 minutes of your time every so often to see what your interpretations are like. Arguably there's more on here than we need to know - but you can never have enough knowledge!

I'd recommend going through the teaching sessions for the rhythms before having a go at the game, and certainly stay clear of this until you've read into ECGs or started them at Uni.

Reflection: Would you call 999 for Tonsillitis?

So I'm back out on the road working on the Rapid Response Vehicle (those Ambulance marked cars you see zipping around your local city).

We received a call - Green 2 for difficulty breathing, partial airway obstruction, ?tonsillitis. It was originally graded as a Green 4 call but as it's allotted 4 hour response time had elapsed it had upgraded to Green 2 and we were asked to attend - the call had originated from NHS 111. At this stage it's safe to say my mentor and I let out a little groan as we made our way to the address, talking through the options available to us for this type of call - our impression at this stage is that it really didn't warrant an emergency Ambulance response.

However, it wasn't quite what it seemed! Read on to find out what happened next and a humbling lesson learnt for me.

Focus On: The Great Paramedic Intubation Debate

So if you're studying to become a Paramedic, it's very likely that you've heard about the great debate whether we as a Profession should Intubate patients anymore. The following is a whistle stop tour of how all of this came about and some of the issues around it.

Read on to find out more...

Diary: Weeks 14,15 & 16 - Back to Uni

So Instead of writing week by week of my return to Uni, I appreciate it's probably less interesting to read than zipping around on Blue Lights so I thought that I'd condense my first three weeks into one post instead.

Coming back to Uni after Christmas and the excitement of Placement was harder than I'd thought. Initially I found myself lacking that get up and go with my home studies after lectures each day. Before placement I'd happily sit for a few hours when I got back to my room and study things around what I'd learnt or read ahead on things I was going to learn but now I was having to force myself to do the same. After a few days I gave myself a kick up the back-side and just remembered how bad I wanted this and how hard I'd worked to get here and I was fine again.

Seeing all of my colleagues again has been great, everyone has their own war stories to share from Placement and hearing about their experiences helps my own learning too.

Read on to find out what I've been learning about since I got back!

Diary: Week 13 - slightly late!

So I got caught up in Christmas and New Years and gorging myself with food and alcohol and generally not needing to worry too much about University and my Paramedic training for a couple of weeks so I'm abit behind. However 2015 is here and I'm back in the swing of things at Uni for 5 weeks, I thought I'd update my diary for my second and final week on my Ambulance Placement which I spent on the Rapid Response Vehicle (one of the Ambulance Cars you see driving around everywhere...).

Read on to see how it went...

Diary: Week 12

Week 12 brought my first week out on the Ambulance. This meant meeting my Mentor for the first time, getting to know those I'd be working with on my Station, and getting into the swing of things out on the road.

This week I was on a double crewed ambulance (DCA), this meant working with a Technician and my Paramedic mentor. On my first shift, I learned what equipment and consumables should be on the back of the vehicle and where to get anything that we were short of - by the end of my 4th shift I was comfortable doing this without prompting after seeing what we seem to use alot of and not alot of during out shift.

Read on to find out how the rest of my week went.

Focus On: Left Ventricular Failure (LVF)

Well my blog is filled with tips on becoming a Student Paramedic and ramblings in my Diary. So I thought I'd try and add some more information for those currently studying or about to begin studying. Prompted by a recent job I attended, I thought we would take a look at Left Ventricular Failure (LVF). Read on to find out more!

Diary: Week 11

So the second week of my Hospital placement has been and gone. Week 2 went pretty much as week 1 did really, lots of fundamental care with some lovely patients. I'm writing this a week late due to starting my Ambulance shifts pretty much as soon as I finished my second week in the Hospital so expect two updates quite close together.

Read on to see what else I got upto.

Diary: Week 10

Week 10 brought my first week of Placement. Switching from predictable days in University to back to back 12 hour shifts was 'interesting' - especially when my housemates insisted in screaming the house down when they came back drunk at 2am in the middle of those shifts... twice. So for anyone reading who is due to start Uni - try and get housed with other Health Care Students!

Read on to find out how I got on...

Diary: Week 9

Well my final week at Uni before Placement has now passed and I'm looking forward to getting out on the road and putting into practice what I've learned so far over the Christmas period.

Read on to see what my final week consisted of!