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.

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.

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 5 & 6

It's been a busy two weeks so I missed last weeks update.

So, as alluded to I've been very busy, if you regularly read this you'll see I had my first OSCE a week ago and on the build up to it my nerves got the better of me. Despite practicing day and night for Adult and Child BLS/AED (not lay-person BLS, it's the Healthcare Professional one which includes BVM, Suction and Airway Adjuncts), on the day my brain went to mush, the morning of the OSCE I did another practice run through of both OSCEs I'd need to complete and I was making mistakes that I'd never made before. Suffice to say walking into the room with that mannequin staring up at the ceiling, the anxiety was crushing, read on to find out what happened next...

Diary: Week 3

Well week 3 came and went rather quickly. I've spent a large part of my week preparing for my BLS OSCE which is coming along well I feel - I'm rehearsing adult and pediatric BLS with AED before bed every night (which the person who lives under me must love listening too...). Even this early on in the course this is a pass or fail exam, a failure will get you a resit, a second failure will see you removed from the course - this may seem a little harsh but if you can't grab the basics at this early stage then it unfortunately looks like the profession may not be for you! Read on for what else I've been upto...

Diary: Week 1

Well it came around quick, the first week of Uni has been and gone.

What can you expect? Well that will vary from Uni to Uni as you'd expect but a common theme throughout will be death by PowerPoint, various inductions and health and safety briefings - but also an overview of the course.

RESOURCE: Easy 4 H's & T's revision (ACLS)

Hello Readers,

Pretty good video below on the 4 H's and T's otherwise known as the reversible causes of a Cardiac Arrest. Pretty good for revision, whilst there's plenty of material out there for ACLS - I think this is one of the better revision videos going.




Hope this helps!

Paramedics and the Military

So I thought I'd start April off with something I know a little about. If you've come across this blog it's likely that you would like to become a Paramedic sometime in the future, there are a few Career options open to you once you have successfully attained State Registration - Ambulance Trusts are the obvious ones but there's scope to work Privately, in remote/hostile environments abroad or at sea, or as another option: Within the Military. Now we're specifically looking at the Army and the RAF here as the Navy don't have Paramedics within the service (they have Medical Assistants instead). So let's look at how these two Services use Paramedics.

One to Watch: Junior Paramedics

Just a quick one really for prospective Student Paramedics out there, it's worth a watch of BBCs latest documentary "Junior Paramedics" JUNIOR PARAMEDICS EP 1 - all the episodes are on iPlayer at the moment but if you're reading this a few months from now and this link no longer works then just search the program title in YouTube and catch them there.

The series provides a decent look at what to expect on your first ever placement, it's a little cheesy and it doesn't really show you much of the Uni side of the course but nevertheless it's not a bad insight really!

My Golden Rules for Success

I've wrote quite a few lengthy articles about specific things you can do to prepare yourself to be successful at getting onto a Paramedic course at Uni - I thought I'd now summarise quickly some key thoughts on what really helped me at the Personal Statement stage and then Interviews.

1. The Health Care Professions Council (HCPC)
L/H - 1000051CStandards_of_Proficiency_Paramedics.pdf - This is your bible for the next few years. If you read through this it states exactly what is expected in a Paramedics Professional Conduct and the Qualities of a Paramedic - you can put money on your University of choice using alot of these standards as the framework for their marking criteria at Interview - During Application and Interview stages you need to demonstrate you live up to these qualities, think of examples - lots of examples that show how you do. Also make sure you can state the role of the HCPC in the Governance of Paramedic Practice - you will get asked this at Interview I promise.

So you got an offer! What next?

Congratulations, you got that dreaded "Your application status has changed" e-mail and it was what you were hoping for. First of all breathe - all that pressure, stress, worry, sleepless nights is all over, enjoy your achievement - you were top of a very big pile of people wishing to become a Paramedic.

Let's talk about using your "previous experience"

Having been successful at Interviews and gained a few offers from University for Paramedic Practice I feel like I can comment on previous experience and how to use it.

When I was preparing for my Uni Interviews all of my friends, relatives and fellow Access students would happily tell me that several years as a Combat Medic in the Army will mean I would breeze my way into Uni... I wish I'd shared their confidence!

Gaining that relevent experience

Okay so you've decided to take the plunge and embark on the long road of becoming a Paramedic. But now you need some experience to talk about on your Personal Statement and at Interview.

My first article is going to look at ways that you can volunteer around your current role if it isn't relevant or around study to gain that valuable experience.

Community First Responder
So first on my list is the Community First Responder which aslong as you can drive and have access to a car is an excellent choice to gain experience (though bear in mind that alot of