Paramedic Professionals
Assess, diagnose, treat and provide specialised health care and life support treatments for patients in a range of settings, including medical emergencies and situations requiring critical care and extended care in an out-of-hospital environment.
A day shift on the ambulance
You are a paramedic on a two-person ambulance crew in a country town, starting a ten-hour day shift. It is 9am. You have been on shift for an hour and have already done two calls. The radio crackles again with a third, and you can tell it will not be simple.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
My mother is eighty-nine and had a fall this morning. She says she is fine and doesn't want any fuss. But she can barely stand and she is not making sense. Please don't let her talk you out of helping.
Accept her mother's answer that she is fine, because it is her right to refuse
Her mother's wishes matter, but she was confused and could not weigh up what she was refusing. You have let a possibly unwell person stay home without a proper check.
Check her carefully, talk with her and the family, explain the concern and aim to take her with her agreement
Her mother is slow to agree, but she listens when you speak calmly and treat her as a person, not a case. She comes in with her daughter at her side. Patience is a clinical skill.
Tell the daughter you are going to take her mother whether she agrees or not
You may be right, but the mother is distressed and the family is divided. Even when you have to act firmly, how you do it affects the patient's trust.
We are completely full. I have eight patients waiting for beds and no space for you. Can you hold your patient on the ambulance for an hour or two until something frees up?
Say you will wait, since the hospital is clearly under pressure
You wait, and the patient stays safe, but your crew is out of action while other calls stack up in town. Sometimes waiting is necessary, but it should not be the only thing you try.
Stay with your patient, keep checking her, give Hamid a clear handover and ask for a senior nurse to review the plan
The handover is useful, but there is no resolution and the waiting continues. Without a clear next step you are left in limbo and the town's other callers wait.
Give a clear handover, ask what Hamid needs to free up a space and agree a plan to hand over safely
A senior nurse takes over her care at the bedside within twenty minutes. Your crew is free again and the patient is safe. A good handover is a conversation, not a delivery.
I'm really struggling today. That last call got to me and I'm not sure I can do the next one properly. I don't want to make a fuss, and we are short as it is.
Reassure him that he's fine and tell him to push through, because that's the job
He goes along with it, but he is distracted at the next call and something small is missed. Pretending a tough call has no effect does not make it so.
Tell him that you've noticed and are glad he spoke, take the next call yourself if you can, and let your supervisor know
Joe is supported, but he did not want your supervisor to know and feels his trust was spent. It was well meant. Next time you might ask him before telling anyone.
Thank him, check what he needs right now, take the lead on the next call and offer to speak to your supervisor together
Joe is grateful, and takes the afternoon to debrief with a peer supporter. You finish the shift together. Looking after each other is how crews last.
How it went
The shift ends with notes written, the vehicle restocked and a crewmate you looked out for. Paramedics think fast, speak calmly and carry hard moments home. It is a job of great variety and real weight. Which part would you find hardest: the speed, the emotion or the waiting?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The man who said he was fine
A fictional case set in an ambulance crew on a day shift in a fictional mid-sized country town.
The situation
Paramedics Lena and Joe were sent to a house where a man in his seventies, Mr Papas, had been found sitting on the floor after a fall. He was chatty, joked about being clumsy and said he did not need to go anywhere. His daughter, who had rung, was worried but did not want to upset him. His speech seemed slightly slurred, though it was hard to say whether it was his usual way of speaking, and the crew's next job was already waiting.
What they did
Lena asked the daughter, away from her father, what was normal for him. The daughter said his speech was usually clear. Lena and Joe ran their checks calmly, explained what they were doing and told Mr Papas honestly that something worried them. They did not push, but they explained that the hospital would give him a proper look. He agreed, and Joe called ahead so the team there knew what to expect.
How it turned out
Mr Papas had a small stroke. Because he reached hospital quickly, the treatment he needed started early. He stayed in hospital for some time and went home with support. Lena and Joe never heard the full story, but the daughter sent a card to the station.
What would you do?
- What do you think made Lena ask the daughter instead of just the patient?
- How would you persuade someone to go to hospital when they say no?
- How would you feel about not always finding out what happened next?