Working in the Ambulance Service / medical field in general is absolutely hilarious. One minute you feel like giving up because you feel so incompetent and know nothing. Next minute you feel so good at your job and proud of what you do. It’s like a constant rollercoaster.
A very proud moment. Officially been signed off as eligible to register as a HCPC registered Ambulance Driver. Now to hand the portfolio in, wait for the board to sit and register with the HCPC. Exciting times ahead. 🚑
4 years later…. 1.5 years longer than it was originally meant to be, I’ve managed to gain registration as a fully qualified Paramedic.
It’s been a long journey but it’s been worth every minute. Looking forward to see what the future will bring.
The
@GoodSamApp
is a great initiative, enhancing the chain of survival. Alerted this AM however whilst on route was stood down. Only been alerted a handful of times and ambo crew had got there first, but it’s better to have it and not need it than vice versa.
Pre-hospital peeps: You think your patient should go to hospital but your crewmate disagrees and thinks they can be left at home. You’ve already strongly advised hospital (for good reason) but your crewmate overrules you in front of the family. What do you do?
I genuinely wish more people had this mindset. Qualifying as a paramedic doesn’t mean you have to know absolutely everything. It’s a lifelong journey, a jigsaw that you fill the pieces in as you find them. Be humble,admit when you make mistakes,learn from them and teach others.
Number 1 lesson I’ve learnt as a student Paramedic.
By the time I’ve qualified Im never going to be the finished product.
And that okay!
Instead of chasing perfection, chase that growth mindset.
Every experience and every mistake is a learning opportunity.
Merry Christmas!
The curse is real.
Crewie: “I’ve only worn my hi vis once in 2 years”
Me: “I’ve worn mine maybe twice in four years, we never go to jobs requiring them”.
1st Job - First crew on scene to high speed RTC, 3 casualties, 2 unconscious and trapped, 1 trapped in another vehicle.
@PCTomVanDerWee
Got hit by a drunk driver not long ago (He blew 135mcg/100ml). Driver begged me not to call the police or else he will “kill himself”. People just can’t take responsibility for their actions. It’s so frustrating.
Thank you to the Tenth Lock Pub in Brierley Hill for having us at
@DudleyCFRs
in to do an awareness session on CPR, AED use and the use of the
@TheDanielBaird1
Bleed Kits. Also amazing to speak to Ken, cardiac arrest survivor, who had a cardiac arrest in January. Great fun.
Just listened to
@wmcareteam
‘s podcast on Impact Brain Apnoea by
@jenrow
. Really informative and explained simply. Prompt recognition and ventilation is key to reverse hypoxia&hypercarbia, stimulate spontaneous respiration and prevent catecholamine surge which worsens outcome.
@JMoff79
@KHoulgate
It’s not just ‘talking and reassuring’ that’s challenging. It’s the toileting, feeding, reassuring, re-positioning, etc. for 6+ hours, oftentimes a whole shift, which is not in our care bundle. It’s not something that we’re used to and not something we should be used to.
It was a a privilege to take part in
@wmcareteam
‘s PHASTER course. A great day, utilising advanced skills and inter-agency working. An amazing CPD opportunity.
@chippa_chop
The good old “I know someone who had to wait 9 hrs with **Insert injury or illness that didn’t prevent them from getting in a taxi / family member’s car to hospital** ”
@emmajoyfulford
It’s “intended to reduce transmission of pathogens that may occur due to contact of the patient with healthcare workers' contaminated clothing” So what about my jacket sleeves that fall below my elbow? What about the stretcher seatbelts which could be contaminated?
@GenerallyUnwell
I’m glad it’s recognised and accepted within HEMS, as disagreeing shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing in pre-hospital practice. It can be quite toxic as road crew in this situation. Not a personal experience but an interesting one I wanted to get opinions on. Thank you.
@cleanupbritain
@NationalHways
I think it’s a bit unfair to be blaming National Highways if I’m being honest. If people didn’t put it there, there’d be no need to get it cleaned up.
Absolutley agree. Take everything with a pinch of salt but it’s a great platform when looking to further your knowledge and pick up new pieces to add to your puzzle.
This platform has been a really useful learning tool for me over the years I’ve been training and qualified as a paramedic. The amount of random nuggets of information, interesting studies and discussions I’ll stumble upon is ridiculous. /1
It literally takes 1:21 to learn how to save a life. Defibrillators are extremely easy to use. Have a watch - Someone may be able to thank you for saving their life one day.
61% of people say they aren’t confident enough to use a defib, yet early CPR and defibrillation can significantly increase the chances of survival.
Learn the steps to save a life with Defib Dani 👇
Seeing student paramedic tiktoks and the majority of their photos are in the back makes me sad. Students don’t learn anything sat there on the way to jobs!
@ES_Humour
‘Haemorrhage from penis’ - The patient ‘dribbled’ after having a wee and got worried.
‘ill - Pt has taken edibles - Now feels like his lips are rolling up’
Question: What number of casualties would be enough to out-number a 2 person crew? I know this can be very dependent on the situation, but interested to hear people’s perspectives and/or experiences.
#MajorIncident
#Triage
#MassCasualtyIncidents
@laurathesnowman
Resus Council ALS Guidelines advise changing the pads from anterior/ lateral position to anterior / posterior position when in refractory VF. (After 3 shocks).
@MaryLouMcDonald
A very sad case. Staff were under so much pressure. Of the 191, I would love to know how many actually needed to be in the ED. No doubt many didn’t need to be.
@niamhcarolan_
@GoodSamApp
Yeah absolutely, apart from the fact it always seems to alert me during the depths of the night when I’m GCS 12 at best and don’t know my arse from my elbow 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@TheRealRead
100% agree. Getting sent to a “C1 life-threatening asthma” in your last 30 seconds of your 12hr shift is fine.
The patient walking calmly out to the ambulance when you arrive, breathing better than you are, is not.
1 week ago - Full ED waiting room, wait times of 6hrs+, sat outside ED on an ambulance for half of my 12hr shift due to no beds & late finish.
Last night - Empty waiting room, immediate ambulance offload, stayed within local area and on time finish…..
#WhatsChanged
?
@Sam_Imber
@emmajoyfulford
Exactly, they ‘should’, but not all have been transitioned. If you’re going to worry about infecting patients, clamp down on all of it, not some. You could argue that the transmission of pathogens is the same if not more from a sleeve amongst a variety of other things.
@GlenwrightCook
I think you hit the nail on the head with your last point. Our senior colleagues should be leading and teaching us. In this case it didn’t happen from my understanding.
@ParaAndy90
If the patient is 1: A farmer 2: A man who said “My wife told me to call you.” Or 3: Someone who tells you “I just don’t feel right”.
It’s going to be a big job. Be prepared🤣
I’m sick of seeing posts / hearing about people being killed in RTC’s. It’s so needless. People don’t need to lose their entire existence from other people’s (and their own) laziness / complacency / overconfidence.
(1/2)
@ParaAndy90
@darren6015
Do you not have a policy which outlines which categories get a blue light response? I 100% agree we shouldn’t be driving on blues to calls that have been in for hours but it’s our job and we have to play the game..
@Sully_Bryan1
@mrpatrickrevans
@GoodSamApp
Governance is one of GoodSam’s core principles, but realistically there’s not much to it. Once the trust is registered as a verifying organisation, all they have to do is match with details on file and ID card submitted and go “yep, they’re qualified in CPR”, it takes 1-2 days.
@ParaAndy90
@TheLeeMcLaren
100% agree… too many Paramedics forced to be mentors when they clearly have no interest or desire to mentor. It’s so unfair to students who need and want to learn and paired with a mentor who just wants to come into work, do their job and go home..
@JessicaSpara
It’s really nice to read stuff like this - It shows how much you care. People may say you’re ‘too keen’ but I think we need more clinicians like this, who strive to be good. 1/4
@OFFICIALWMAS
Hi guys! How are the road crews selected for these exercises? I would’ve loved to get involved in something like this but never heard about it.
@kylescully20
@leebonnie2707
You will say they’ll leech off the system and claim benefits etc. but so do our own… and some of them “men coming into the country” are actually hardworking doctors, nurses and carers. Looking after our people, not theirs. Have a hard think and educate yourselves. 2/2
@rosesusitation
I think a bad idea - It undermines the hard work and dedication people put into qualifying. If you’re a Paramedic, you’re a Paramedic. You may not be as “seasoned” as others but you’ve earned that title.
@codebluenursey
I always try to think top to toe.
So imagine the body. First start outside the body (environment) - Hypothermia. Then to the mouth -Hypoxia. Then the pancreas - Hyper/hypo metabolic. Then the abdominal aorta - Hypovolemia.
People will always use the 999 system inappropriately. It’s up to us to triage it and signpost these people to the right place. I’ve been out to someone with dental pain, someone who had taken edibles, and someone who cancelled the ambulance but we still sent one anyway.
So our book club are reading “you called an ambulance for what?”
Which is quite amusing sure, but I feel it should be renamed “We dispatched an ambulance for what?!”
@ParaAndy90
@darren6015
Don’t get me wrong there are sooo many jobs that just absolutely do not require a blue light response but it’s not worth a disciplinary getting caught not using them.
@Sully_Bryan1
@mrpatrickrevans
@GoodSamApp
It’s not a new concept, it’s been used all around the world and for a number of years, my point is that it had the potential to be used much earlier than it has been.
Join us on Saturday 27th April 2024 at
#Sandwell
Ambulance Station.
#citizenAid
alongside the
#WMAS
West Midlands Ambulance Service's Education & Training Team will be holding FREE training sessions as part of this year's
#StopTheBleedDay
. More details at
@HiyaImMolly
I did mine on the lack of exposure to OHCA in contemporary Paramedic practice and the impact it has on patient outcomes. With the way the ambulance service is going, I felt it was an important topic - How can we be good at something we see so infrequently?
@kellieOber
@999echo_
I’ve genuinely considered changing career too, thinking I wasn’t made for it. But the good times make up for it🤣 I just wish they came along a lot more frequently 🤣
@think_or_swim
@PatKennyNT
Why blame the shape of the SUV and not the awareness of the driver? Not a great place to put a pedestrian crossing but stopping on one doesn’t help the situation.
We all know that survival and good neurological outcome after OHCA can be rare, but this is one of many amazing examples of how the
#ChainOfSurvival
was perfectly demonstrated and a life was saved.👏
Community First Responders can have a huge impact on our patients especially for Mark who suffered a cardiac arrest while on his garage roof.
Here's Mark's story 🔽
#VolunteersWeek
@loddyy24
The patients of the future will be directly affected by this. These prospective paramedics will lack the adequate exposure to clinical cases to bridge the gap between Theory and Practice - This will inevitably create substandard clinicians and substandard care being provided.
@FFAFrances
I find it’s very area/hospital dependant. Some will still send patients from back of vehicle straight to waiting room (sometimes, in my opinion inappropriately) and some will hold on the back.
@Kyle_Griffies
I used to make up stories to remember my exemptions e.g. A man wearing a red top, yellow shorts and white shoes (Parking in areas with Double Yellow, White, or Red Lines), was walking down the road, he crossed a pedestrian crossing (controlled by zig zag lines). (1/2)
@hines_stephen
Shock first - “Untreated VF will rapidly deteriorate into asystole, from which resuscitation rates are dismal. For untreated VF or VT, the likelihood of resuscitation decreases by up to 10% per minute.”
Just watched a great
@TraumaCareUK
webinar on Bleeding Mimics, exsanguination and the ‘Hateful 8’ by Dr. Gareth Davies.
Remember - Not all hypotensive, tachycardic trauma patients are bleeding.
@Marketaballann
Ah it’s full… if anyone who signed up isn’t able to make this could you let me know so I can have your place please? Currently about to start my NQP journey and very excited but very nervous …
@ParaAndy90
I’ve got one, been using it for years.. no fees, good conversion rates, quick transfers, able to create mini ‘vaults’ to stow away money. Would recommend.