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!




The highlight of my week really was enhancing my examination skills, I've learned in depth physical assessments of the Respiratory System and the Gastrointestinal system which involved percussing, palpating, and listening to both of them and understanding the 'red flag' signs and what life-threatening conditions they could point towards.

We also explored 'expectations' - what Patients and the Public expect from you when you identify yourself as a Paramedic or they see the Green uniform, I find that I quite enjoy these sorts of lessons as they allow you to explore the profession in the bigger picture not just your medical skills but your professional ones also.

Finally we had a plethora of skills we had to be signed off as capable in before we're let loose on the public. This included the LifePak 15 (a Defib/ECG/Observations Monitor), splints of varying shapes sizes and desired uses, various extrication and immobilisation devices, more observation kit such as the Ottoscope, tympanic thermometers and urinalysis kit, and the full range of airway equipment including ventilators, adjuncts such as i-Gel, nebulisers and oxygen masks.

The next 2 weeks I'll be working in a Cardiac Care Unit in a local Hospital so the next Diary entries will be around my experiences there before going out on the road for a few weeks after that.

Thanks for reading!