Ambulance service staff provide specialised care at the scene of an emergency, drive ambulances & other vehicles, & care for patients travelling with them. The service is not just about responding to a 999 call with an emergency crew. There is also a team of people with many different roles who provide back-up & support.
The ambulance service play a crucial front line role in delivering urgent and emergency healthcare. The priority is no longer getting patients to hospital as fast as possible; ambulance clinicians deliver mobile treatment services to provide care in home or community settings, or give advice over the phone. They work alongside other professionals to provide integrated health and social care.
When a 999 call is received, trained call handlers use triage software to decide rapidly what the problem seems to be and emergency medical dispatchers decide the right response. Not all patients need an ambulance with blue lights and sirens, in fact only a small proportion of calls need the fastest response.
This video has been produced by the College of Paramedics in association with Health Education England (HEE).
Paramedics have a highly responsible role, often being the senior ambulance service healthcare professional in a range of emergency and non-emergency situations. You will be one of the first healthcare professionals to arrive at the scene.
Call handlers deal with emergency calls from the public and medical dispatchers make sure that the right help gets there as soon as possible.
Ambulance care assistants or Patient Transport Service (PTS) drivers drive disabled, elderly, sick or vulnerable people to and from outpatient clinics, day care centres and routine hospital admissions.
As an emergency medical technician, you may operate as a single responder to an incident or support a paramedic on a double-crewed ambulance. You’ll have many of the same skills as paramedics, such as being able to assess, triage and provide lifesaving treatment. You will work closely with colleagues in the ambulance service (including paramedics, emergency call handlers and medical dispatchers, emergency care assistants), emergency medicine doctors, nurses and the wider NHS. You will also work with the other emergency services and urgent care team. You will have direct contact with service users or others, providing high quality and compassionate care.
The role of the emergency care support worker is to respond to cases of sudden illness and injury, to respond to healthcare professional assessed calls, and provide special and planned patient transfers. To support the team in the provision of high quality and effective clinical and personal care and the transportation of patients, selecting and applying appropriate equipment and skills in line with the scope of practice and associated training. To use ambulance driving skills under blue light and normal traffic conditions to respond to emergency and urgent calls as required.
There are a range of work experience, volunteering and other opportunities available to help you decide if a role is for you. Click here to find out more about these opportunities and how to apply.
The Academy is part of the Hertfordshire and west Essex Integrated Care System where NHS organisations, in partnership with local councils and others, take collective responsibility for managing resources, delivering NHS standards, and improving the health of the population they serve.
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