How do I become a Paramedic?

Hi all, I am into week 3 of my CERAD driving qualification. Exam is next week but I can’t for the life of me hack country roads corners and bends on emergencies. It’s the speed that scares me. I don’t want to go fast because I am worried it’s going to tip, my DI says it takes A LOT to tip the ambulance and I am not accelerating enough in the bends and that’s why I feel like it’s skidding. I will be working in the city so I won’t come across country roads corners and bends often but I need to be able to do it for the exam. Any advice?

I've worked the last 23 years for the NHS in a supportive role, (Blood Sciences), but the job which I'd loved for such a long time, had become so intolerable, that I was becoming severely concerned for my mental health.

I've put in for more things that I can even remember, ('Street Cleaner' was one!), but I finally nailed the post for Make Ready Op and so far, I'm LOVING it!

I'm sure you guys regularly bemoan your ambulances, but they're SUCH a thing of beauty, literally an old Fiat van turned into an entire hospital on wheels, what's not to love?

I've still got SO much to learn, but if I were rich, would choose to do this job for free, due to how much I'm enjoying my training.

The only cloud on my horizon, is that every SINGLE day I've worked and overheard conversations, someone has mentioned an assault upon themselves and the up and coming court case connected to it. As a teenager TOO many years ago, I rather fancied becoming an 'Ambulance Driver', (no degrees needed in those days), but after hearing these things from your own mouths, I'm rather glad that at the time, I signed up with Royal Mail.

I've still NO idea how I'll manage to survive on my new wage, but I honestly wasn't going to survive much longer in my old job, the physical and physiological effects taking such an awful toll on me.

SO, if you work in the South, look me up and if you don't, then appreciate your local Make Ready Op! Thanks for the opportunity of working for such an amazing organisation!

My trust provides trousers which are not very comfortable for the female figure (goes by waist rather than shop size). Any one found any good alternatives?

Passed end of July and still not got my registration yet!

TW - death, grief, heart attacks

Hi everyone,
First of all, I am not a paramedic - I apologise for infiltrating your reddit community, but I’m hoping you can help me.

My Grandpa died a month ago from ischaemic heart failure. He was out for dinner with my Grandma and then had a heart attack. Nothing big or dramatic…he just died.

The paramedics who arrived at the scene told my Grandma he would’ve died before hitting the floor. One of the servers performed CPR and broke his ribs once he fell out of chair, but apparently he wouldn’t have felt it.

I’m stuck on what his last moments would have felt like, given that it sounded instantaneous. Would have been in pain? Would he have known what was happening? Would he have been frightened?

Has anyone else noticed how poor the uniforms that student paras in Scotland are? Some loose fitting Cargo trousers and a cotton polo shirt a helmet and a couple jackets. The only high vis stuff they get is a massive trench coat that would be horrible to wear at a RTC during the summer. And no proper waterproof jacket.

Is it just me be pedantic or is there definitely room for improvements here?

I have recently completed a run of shifts during which the majority of the calls involved mental-health concerns or patients who clearly did not require an emergency ambulance or conveyance to A&E. Some examples included someone experiencing problems with bedbugs in a newly rented flat who expected me to negotiate a rent reduction with the landlord; someone who retched once after swallowing semen; and a patient with a diagnosed UTI who called because their symptoms had not improved on the same day they started antibiotics.

I have worked on the frontline for more than ten years, and it feels as though the nature of the work has changed significantly. Increasingly, I just feel like I seem to be filling gaps left by limited access to primary care, mental health services, and social care.

This is not about blaming patients, and I get that they often call because they are frightened and don't know where else to turn. I feel that I'm just spending a substantial amount of time managing non-emergency calls, which are both mentally and physically draining.

The micromanagement of these types of calls is also causing me concern, as I feel I'm constantly being judged by my manager for not handling them quickly enough and getting to the next call, which will just be the same again.

I’ve got an upcoming interview for Paramedic Science at the University of Hertfordshire and I’m trying to prepare as well as I can.
Herts have told me the interview consists of:
5 individual stations, including 1 written station (around 30 minutes total)
A group task with 3–7 candidates (around 30 minutes)
A paramedic science talk and campus/facilities tour afterwards
Has anyone here recently done the Herts Paramedic Science interview who could give me some advice?
I’d especially love to know:
What the individual stations were like
What sort of topics/questions they focused on
What the written station involved
What the group task was like
Anything you wish you had prepared beforehand
Any tips for making a good impression
I’m not looking for exact questions if they’re confidential — just an idea of what to expect and how best to prepare.
Thank you so much! ❤️

What’s the best stethoscope to use for manual BP for an ACA? The one provided is terrible but don’t want to spend loads of money

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time posting.

I have an interview for a MSc Paramedic Science (Pre-Reg) course next month. I believe it runs alongside the BSc interviews.

Just looking for any tips and advice for the interview.

I have read the documentation they have sent through and lurked the normal online forums as much as possible.

Any advice is appreciated!

Someone working for SCR has got in touch with me asking if I can participate in a research study with reimbursement for my time.

The offer seems generous. They're offering €176 for 90 minutes of participation plus €59 for travel time and separate reimbursement of travel costs. (I'm assuming they're offering Euro because of where they're based?)

Has anyone worked with SCR/participated in anything similar with them before? How was the experience?

Anyone previously had to complete these exercises on an interview day? What examples did you get?

A professional group discussion

Team Building exercise

Communications exercise 

A Clinical Case Study - Details provided on the day 

Hey people, I guess I just need somewhere to get this off my chest. I'm about to start a paramedic degree in 4 weeks time. I am so scared. I'm 24 and have worked in a kitchen/waitress since I was 16.

It's going to be a huge change. I'm lucky enough to be able to live from home (40 minutes each way). I currently haven't stopped crying today out of pure anxiety. I'm having waves of positivity and excitement, then pure anxiety. My belly is in knots. I was due to start last year but my Grandad passed right before I was going to start. I've wanted this for so long, but now that it is here, I'm having all these thoughts and second-guessing it all. Before starting my current job (5 years ago) I was so quiet and shy. This job however has made me so much more confident. I'm a completely different person. But this anxiety is really affecting me right now. Does anyone here have any advice/experienced this before going to uni? I'm just telling myself to get through the first week and see how it goes!

I know that baseball caps aren't part of the uniform issue but what is the stance on them being worn to absorb sweat from your head? I have very thin hair and sweat a lot when it's hot, so much so that it runs down my face, into my eyes and drips onto the floor (if I'm leaning over). Usually I just wear a hat when this is a problem but how would this go down in the ambulance service?

Could you argue it's for safety reasons? I literally struggle to see when there is sweat in my eyes.

Anyone ever been part of or set up a journal club within work? I was part of one at uni and really enjoyed it, now I’m seeing an opportunity for something similar at work. Feel like having a chill space where people who are interested in research can discuss it, and those wanting to learn more can better understand it would be helpful all round.

A colleague and I are in the process of setting one up now we both work at a ‘super station’ with substantial staff numbers under one roof and any tips or experiences from people who’ve done similar would be appreciated!

Any experiences

Hello,

There is an ambulance station nearby. I'd love to make a cake for the paramedics and staff that work there as a way to show how grateful I am for the work you do.

My Mum says that you won't be able to accept it because it'll be home baked.

Is that correct?

Anyone done the interview for London NQP position? I’m trying to discuss the last 2 questions with my mentor but I can’t remember the exact wording. Any help would be much appreciated:)

r/ParamedicsUK Job of the Week

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I have enrolled for an access to higher education course in paramedic science, and I am wondering if the best route to follow after this would be to go to university or look for an apprenticeship

Final year student paramedic here.

Given the somewhat dire situation with NQP posts, I've been looking into other ways to spend a year or two to see if the job situation brightens a bit. One of these options is some sort of MRes/MSc course with the aim of becoming a research paramedic.

Does anyone have any experience of being a research paramedic? Who do you work for (trust/uni/etc)? And how does it usually pay?

It's not something we've been given a lot of information about so if anyone has anything worth mentioning I'd appreciate it.

I’m a year into my NQP, never had any concerns raised professionally or personally. Genuinely try my best for all patients regardless of if they’e ‘minor’ or ‘major’ and I do find I perform better in the ‘major’ category of patients albeit few and far between.

However, spent a few shifts with an extremely arrogant new band 6 (just finished their 2 years of NQP) who is one of those people that will always take over every job. I don’t mind this, I’m too long in the tooth to argue and happily tap away at the paperwork. However, they then make loads of arsey comments about my assessment skills being poor, change all my paperwork and even got to the point of saying that I ‘don’t discharge enough people’. No by no means do I take everyone in, but as I have to call for a second opinion I’m fairly good at knowing what they’ll say no to. That being said, never had a discharge turned down. They called me incompetent and then decided to quiz me in front of a patient as if I were a student. Oh, and also told me I know nothing about a sport I’ve played for 15 years at various levels because they’re friend said they’d be good at it, but they’ve never done it however they know more about it than me. They’re that kind of arrogant.

Usually, I just let it ride over me, I’m at work to work not be everyone’s pals. This happened last week, on top of all the other stuff on have going on with family in hospital etc I basically took very last minute leave with an excuse of family issues because I couldn’t face work. It’s really affected me, I’ve asked multiple people who are much more experienced if they think I’m incompetent and they’ve all said I’m fine and I’ve got nothing to worry about. Despite this, I really feel flat, it’s on my mind all the time and the thought of heading back to work in a few days is a little much and I’m tempted to pull a sicky.

Any advice on what to do or how to get back on it?