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.

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!

Diary: Week 8

Week 8 flew by and I found it really enjoyable. Moving and Handling came to an end with a more practical application of skills orientated session, so getting people out of beds and chairs in a hurry (ie about to perform chest compressions on them because they were in Cardiac Arrest) and out of tight areas like toilet cubicles

Read on to find out what else I've been upto this week including attending Court!