stretcher monkey

£31008pa (approx $62000), due a whopping 2.5% pay rise. Also get time-and-a-half for any overtime.

The whole of Monty Python's "Life of Brian" from "blessed are the cheese-makers" through to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life".

The ambulance service in the UK is run by the National Health Service (NHS). There are a number levels of training currently available. If you wish to work on the 'front line', that is attending 911 emergency calls (999 in the UK), then it is necessary to complete the EMT course. This is currently approx 9-12 weeks and covers the clinical and driving aspects of the job, followed by 12 months on the road as a 'trainee' before gaining your qualified status. If you want to be a full paramedic then a 3 or 4 year university course is now the main route to qualification, and competition for places is extremely fierce. A UK paramedic is an independent health care professional, registered with the health professions council (their website has loads of information). UK paramedics use their own clinical judgement to treat patients, within set guidelines. Direct physician control does not happen. The fire and rescue service is completely separate and has no input into the provision of ambulance or EMS care. Have a look at www.fire.gov.uk

Elderly f fell down 2 steps. # R radius/ulna. Not the major trauma I was keyed up for.

That should work. As we move ever closer to a 'United States of Europe', holding a passport of any EU nation allows you to live and work in any other EU nation. To the best of my knowledge the UK has very tough rules regarding gaining citizenship whereas some of the other EU nations may be easier (you may have to learn another language though!)

You could try : www.nhscareers.nhs.uk This is the governments official website for all careers within the UK health service.

Just like in 2005 :wink: And the highest ever 4th inns total at the Gabba shows we are getting into our stride- just 3 days late!

If God played sport he would play cricket. Pure nerve shredding drama. To aussiephil: Don't get too confident. A steve Harmison bowl that ends up at 2nd slip is just part of the overall plan. As the back to bach tests take their toll your oldies will feel the strain. Yeah. right :roll:

My wallet, thats it.

We don't have Doc's with us on our vehicles in the UK, but there is a national voluntary organisation called BASIC's (British Assoc. of Immediate Care) which is staffed by family Dr's (GP's) or other doc's with a special interest in pre-hospital care who work alongside the ambulance service. They are alerted to jobs by ambulance control either because of the nature of the call or as a request from the crew on scene and are generally utilised for additional pain relief or to perform RSI. As for having them on the vehicles permanently, I would have to say no as there simply aren't enough calls where they would be needed. Incidentally in England the powers that be are looking into removing paramedics from ambulances and putting them in FRV's as apparently only 10% of all emergency calls require paramedic interventions, and the rest can be perfectly well dealt with by EMT's.

("scott33 Don't believe me? Try typing the likes of [i) "ambulance fail to meet targets", or a variation of the same, into Google and see what comes back...nothing but UK stuff. Don't worry about Zippies, they are curious creatures you may encounter in the UK (real name comes from the Latin Gobbus Shiteus) fiercely territorial apparently... just give as good as you get :wink: The targets which are always quoted are specifically response time targets, known as ORCON. There is still no formal listing or reporting of patient treatment or outcomes. Please don't think all UK ambulance personel are like zippy. He knows which buttons to press.

Just remember all experience is good experience if you use it in the right way. At least you now know what you don't want to do.

Here in the UK the latest guidlines are to do whatever is needed to ensure perpheral oxy saturations of between 92-95%. I have yet to see or hear of a case where pre-hospital oxygenation of a COPD patient has caused them to lose respiratory drive, and even if it did happen we can all use a bag&mask. Oxygenation management of acute execerbation of COPD here will often include: Nebulised brocho-dilators (with 02 a the drive gas) High flow 02 via NRB Targeted insipried 02 levels with a venturi mask (between 24-60% inspired 02)

We have loads of trouble with tailgaters, usually taxi drivers, so when I spot one in my mirror I just slow down- it annoys the h£ll out of them. It's worse when they sit under your rear bumper when you are driving on blues and two's and they use it to get through the traffic which has moved out of your way. Recently had a car following about 2ft off my rear bumper right through the middle of the city, going well over the speed limit, through red traffic lights etc and it was really starting to p*ss me off. Then a second car joined in and I was starting to worry about a high speed convoy developing when a second siren started blaring. I looked in the mirror and figured out that the second siren was coming from the car which had just joined the mini convoy and he then put on his strobes- it was an unmarked traffic police car and it pulled him over. Sweet.

Hello I'm a paramedic in YAS (West) with more time 'inside' than you would get if you murdered the queen (or so it feels). I have been on the UK based version of this forum for a while and thought I would look around here to see if there are any similarities/differences. Already recognise a few names :wink:

You will find over the course of your career that you will be faced with patients in positions and situations beyond your widest imagination. As for intubating you need to manouvre either yourself or your patient into a position where you can introduce the laryngoscope appropriately to view the cords. This can be a bit disorientating, especially upside down in car....

There are a number of websites which may help www.nhs.uk www.nhscareers.nhs.uk www.jobs.nhs.uk www.paramedic-resource-centre.com These should allow you to access all the info you need. Good luck =D>

Maybe thats because they have that option. Even if you're 100% certain what you're doing is correct it's sometimes just human nature to get someone else's opinion. Us pre-hospitallers don't often get that luxury.

Silent MI's are sneaky and you need to look for it to find it. Recently went to 60+ YO male who was complaining of 'feeling dizzy' and nothing else (definately no pain). He just didn't look 'right'. Sure enough the 12-lead revealed an inferiolateral MI. Our guidelines state that the patient has to have 'typical' cardiac-type pain to receive pre-hospital thrombolysis or direct refferal to cath labs for primary angioplasty, so he was taken to the ED where the doc's agreed and he was sent to cath labs.

As a UK paramedic I routinely record and interpret 12-lead ECG's, with a view to administering thrombolytic therapy. The best practical text book I have found is "12-Lead ECG in Acute Myocardial Infarction" by T.Phalen. Plenty of practice ECG'S.

This is very true. Blood is blood, bone is bone, done and forgotten. Telling a 14 year old girl she has just lost both her parents stays with you for ever.