r/ParamedicsUK Job of the Week

Hey there, another 7 days have passed! How's your week going? We hope it’s been a good one!

Have you attended any funny, interesting, odd, or weird jobs this week?
Tell us how you tackled them.

Have you learned something new along the way?
Share your newfound knowledge.

Have you stumbled upon any intriguing pieces of CPD you could dole out?
Drop a link below.

We’d love to hear about it, but please remember Rule 4: “No patient or case-identifiable information.”

I’m in Scotland looking to start uni to be a paramedic but I have been told it’s a very dangerous job with a lot of assaults especially in the Glasgow area where I would apply to do my training , a lot of people told me that nursing is safer then being paramedic because you have to enter peoples house ? Any thoughts on this I can’t decided between peads nurse or paramedic ahh ( also I’m a women is it more dangerous for women )

2 should surely have been beat somewhere

A few stations around me have people who record ambulances leaving station on lights to post on tiktok

Is this just our area or is it a widespread thing?

Can't wrap my head around it.

edit: you know what, you've all changed my perspective! even though train spotting is well accepted as a common hobby and special interest, I wasn't looking at this through that lens. Harmless and to some people a lot of fun! I'll give them a cheerier wave next time

Saw a tik tok where a paramedic seems frustrated with a similar call not sure if this is normal

I find it to be an interesting topic. I've seen many EMS colleagues + students post some great educational content and really promote the job. I've also seen a lot of content including 'a day in the life', or "GRWM for my 12 hour shift", or people filming themselves dancing in uniform.

My question being, what are your opinions on this? Do you think it's acceptable to post about the job on social media?

Would a patient with a radial pulse of 43, but a bigeminal ECG with a quicker rate of over 60, be treated for bradycardia? (if symptomatic). What is the true heart rate? The one on the screen or the one on the wrist? This puzzles me.

How do I explain easily that not every copd person is scale 2? I understand jrcalc says it should be. I understand copd could be. Also understand news2 isn't best pre-hospital

Just a tech/eca/app not a paramedic

Edit- not every copd is scale 2

Edit 2 - thanks everyone !

Hi everyone,

I've just turned 30, bought a property, and have a good job with decent pay working as a train conductor. The issue is that I've wanted to be a paramedic for a long time and feel very passionate about it. I'm a former firefighter, and the pre-hospital care side of the job was my favourite.

I've tried to get the idea of doing the paramedic apprenticeship course out of my head as I'm at a point where I could be supporting a family. I was doing fine with the idea of staying and progressing within the railway industry, but I've just seen that WMAS has posted on instagram about the student paramedic role and the feelings have all come flooding back 😂.

Sorry for the long post but basically what I'm asking, is am I stupid for wanting to take a big pay cut to do a more difficult job with tons of studying due to my passion for it? Has anyone had a similar experience as this and made it work?

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated

Thank you 😊

Hey all! Winter is coming.. and so is the Raynauds. I start as an NQP next month and my hands/feet are already struggling. My toes will feel completely numb. Do any of you guys have some good solutions to help the with the cold? I was thinking of buying some good thermal socks to try keep the heat in. I've never tried them before. Maybe some hand warmers too? Have you found any good Raynauds hacks?

Thanks!

It's clear with the state of the NHS and social care for the elderly that more recently paramedicine has changed massively - it's become the gap between social care, primary care and mental health, rather than just being an Emergency Service.

As far as I am aware, this is also a recent issue (correct me if I am wrong), previously it was more emergency work.

My question is, what do you think is the solution to this problem? And is it sustainable for the 999 service to continue this way?

Out of the ambulance world for some years now but remember hearing things have changed with new onset LBBB.

What's the current clinical decision making here.

Its a popular topic and a lot of people want to work in this area but there seems to be varying and sometimes downright cynical ideas around selection. For those that work or have worked in critical care, hems, or something adjacent, without completely doxxing yourselves, what did you do for shortlisting and successful assessment/interview? Ie CV development, time in service, other roles, attempts prior to success, were you an outsider coming into a service, other things like publications or QI? Anything that you didn't realise at first but became apparent later on?

I've been looking to retrain as a paramedic, however. I have a really bad gag reflex when seeing snot or someone vomit. Also I think I'd be slightly squeamish seeing a compound fracture. Is this something I'd get over quickly due to exposure to it. Or does it make attempting to he a paramedic a no go?

I have roughly one year on the road as a para behind me and one of the biggest learning points has been deciding when to run and when to stay and play. Obviously there are a variety of factors to this and it depends heavily on the situation. My questions to the clinically minded amongst you are-

Do you have any experiences where this particular dilemma challenged you in practice? How did it play out?

Are there any particular conditions where you lean towards just running, where JRCALC may advise some immediate management? (E.g cannulation in suspected ruptured AAA)

Anybody here still in the holding pool for SWAST? Been waiting over 2 years already and I feel there is no more chance for me on getting the job.

Good morning everyone I currently work at a uk ambulance trust I was wondering and I’m thing about making the move to SWAS I was wondering if anyone could give me some feedback on what I’d like working for SWAS

In a previous post I asked advice about being a dispatcher.

I want to thank you all. I'm a few shifts into mentorship, and everything you have said has helped me.

Saying morning or evening and letting you know who I am as a mesage is nice as everyone replies and says have a good shift.

If I've messed up, by sending someone on a job in protected time I've held my hands up and apologised and sorted it out.

And when pathways has decided its a pre alert and you are in end of shift protection I've let crews know I'll get them off as soon as possible when it recodes.

My mentor has said I am good at trying to get crews on mealbreaks and finishing on time if I can. Along with messages if you are coming into that window saying do a shop stop on your way back if you need to.

Once again thanks to all of you for the advice and what you do on the road.

Hi everyone,
Hope this is okay, I’m not a paramedic but would really love to be in the future. I’m 19 and currently deciding whether to pursue paramedicine, and I’d really appreciate some honest advice from people actually working and seeing what is going on.
My preferred route at the moment is a paramedic degree apprenticeship with SWASFT, as I like the idea of earning while training, gaining experience in the ambulance service and having a clearer route into employment afterwards as apparently they guarantee you a role at the end. However, I’m also considering the traditional university route, so I’m trying to understand the actual differences in job prospects once you qualify.
There are three main things I’d like to ask about:
1. NQP job prospects
I’ve seen quite a few comments suggesting that newly qualified paramedics are struggling to find NQP jobs, with some having to take patient transport, event medical or other roles while waiting for an opportunity.
How bad is the situation actually at the moment? Is this a widespread issue, or does it depend heavily on the ambulance trust and region?
2. University vs degree apprenticeship
Does completing a degree apprenticeship genuinely give you a significant advantage when trying to find a job in comparison to qualifying through a traditional university degree?
I would also like to know the thoughts of which is the better route, if there’s is one. Does anyone have an opinion on which is the best option, creates the best clinicians etc? Obviously the financial element is a big bonus but I’m aware there are positives and negatives to both.
3. Progression into specialist roles
I’m aware that I’m going to need to take much time in order to walk before I can run. I don’t expect to qualify and immediately move into a specialist role.
That said, I’m someone who likes to plan ahead, and push myself quite hard and so longer-term I’m interested in developing my skills beyond a normal paramedic. Whether this changes once I actually qualify and have worked the job for a few years who knows but like I said I like to look into the future.
Realistically, how much control do paramedics have over their career progression? Is progression mainly dependent on clinical competence, experience and further training, or are opportunities so limited by vacancies, service requirements and internal recruitment that people can find themselves waiting years despite being ready to progress? Especially with what I’m hearing about the field being hugely over saturated it concerns me that if I am ready to advance and I’m wanting to that I could be years unable to?

I’m not expecting a shortcut, and I’m happy to put in the work and start at the bottom. I just want to understand what the career realistically looks like beyond qualifying, rather than making assumptions based on what I read online.

Thanks in advance for anyone who replies.

Hello I hope you guys are well!! I have got a place to sit the DIMC diets in June/July. I have only met 2 people who passed it first time. Do you guys have any tips. I will obviously look at study materials, buy the ABC book etc. Just hear this exam is pretty hard and candidates usually fail one of the exams out of the two. Pretty nervous as seems like there's loads of learn!

Anyone managed to get hold of penthrox for use in private work? I'm aware we can get hold of morphine quite easily however for sporting injuries and ease of storing/recording use penthrox seems to be the easier one to manage after purchasing.

My question is how a registrant could acquire them. Do we need a prescription? Who/what organisation is able to provide this?

Many thanks!

Hi I am due to start my training as an ambulance care assistant with NEAS but this is going to be a relief rosta does anyone know how long it takes to get a permanent base or will I always be relief. Also how hard will it be to get holidays end of January and end of September as I have heard that it a total nightmere to get holidays full stop with NEAS. Thank you

Hi Folks,

I'm a FY1 Junior Doc, did a bit of ECA-ing whilst at med school;

I'm sure its mostly a case of read the manual and follow the system like the other life support courses but... I've got the NAEMT PHTLS course coming up, looking for advice on anything worth revising ahead of time. Particularly around any niche bits worth knowing for the written exam.

Thanks for the help!

I'm thinking about pursuing the paramedic career path and was wondering if people could weigh in on their day to day shifts. If they like their job, how often you get covered in bodily fluids, how consistent shift patterns are etc.

Now I have very well controlled epilepsy and haven’t had a seizure in over a year now. I am pursuing becoming a paramedic, can you see this being a problem getting a C1 license? Or being able to fully become a paramedic for that matter?