How do I become a Paramedic?

My last 2 night shifts have been pretty much back-to-back patients who have been aggressive/combative/non-compliant/ lying about symptoms.
At the end of my last shift, I was done. I contemplated life choices.
I'm 10 years in and I can honestly say this has been the worst weekend of nights that I've ever done.

I'm aching, bruised and I'm suffering from compassion fatigue. I genuinely wish we could be more open and honest about our feelings when dealing with people who treat us like crap, when we are just trying to help.

What do you folks do when you have these types of shifts?

Do you always take people to the closest hospital even if it’s out of their area

Hello, I am an NQP for SAS, I’ve officially been out since May but due to some ill health previously I never learned how to drive on blues till August so I’ve only been out as a 2 person crew for a month.

Now with that context out the way, is it normal to feel a huge sense of anxiety in the first few months. I’ve been quite unlucky with crew mates being sick and getting sent all over to buddy up with another single man, today I was on 2 different wagons because my crew mate was pulled 3 hours into our shift and they had to find me a replacement. The constant change, the working with someone different every day, the relief rota, it’s all just making me feel so overwhelmed. I already feel overwhelmed because I’m an NQP making decisions without a mentor standing over me.

I am also so incredibly exhausted on my days off because I feel like I am in such a heightened state while on shift that my days off are nothing except sleep, I feel like I don’t have any hobbies, do anything for fun, or even exercise because I have no motivation or energy. When will this feeling pass?

I also deal with a level of guilt because I know I should feel so lucky I have a job while so many uni graduates can’t get NQP jobs.

How long does it take to get used to the job and adjust to relief shift patterns. Does anyone have any advice, I want to have a life outside work but it just feels like too much right now.

Hello, front line police officer of 4 years here, worked along side ambulance for all of that time obviously.

Frustrated with the job and looking to make a change.

To be honest I had wanted to be a paramedic prior to falling into the police Constable role.

I understand that the grass isn’t always greener and that the ambulance service has its own problems, but I can see myself doing the job and I’m willing to make sacrifices to change my career before I’m locked in to some degree by the money.

I want you to convince me or put me off making the change. I want the good the bad and the ugly of working for an ambulance service. My closest trust would be NWAS in case that matters.

Thanks

If you don't mind me asking

Anyone applied for this so far? I’m looking for a change after being on the road for over 12 years now. I have started the application just need to get it finished.

Hi,

I’m hoping someone can advise me!

I have been invited for an interview for a 999 call handler position. I have been invited for an assessment on teams. (First stage of the process)

Please can someone advise me on what to expect, thanks so much!

Will this be assessing spelling, typing and listening skills or will it be asking me interview questions (like a normal interview)

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

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.”

2 should surely have been beat somewhere

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 )

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?

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 😊

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 !

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.

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 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)

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.