YOUR CALL.
Issue 15 2022
CIPR Best Publication
Out of the darkness Paramedic Eamonn shares his mental health story to help others. “I have always wanted to work for the ambulance service.” - Meet Noor 4
nwas.nhs.uk
We talk menopause with Emma and Louise. 4
Welcome TO THE LATEST EDITION OF YOUR CALL. We are so proud of the progress we have made with Your Call which scooped ‘best publication’ at the regional CIPR Pride Awards in October of last year. This win is down to all of our staff, public and patients who have taken the time to share their stories in previous editions over the years which have really resonated with our readers. We want to thank all of you for your support.
We’ll continue to bring you real-life experiences, news articles and talking point topics, which are important and relatable and this edition is no exception - it is jam packed and there is plenty to think about. In this issue, we continue the menopause discussion as Paramedic Emma and NHS 111 Team Manager Louise talk about their experience of ‘the change’ in a dedicated feature. We are privileged to talk to two Team NWAS members, Eamonn and Jacob, who have battled with the aftermath of very different traumas. They share their mental health stories in order to help people who may be going through something similar. As always, we will continue to be there for those across the North West. Our frontline colleagues will be working tirelessly on the road and in our call centres round the clock, as we transition from winter to spring. Please think about making the right call - 999 is for life-threatening emergencies. There are other actions you can take if your condition is less urgent such as visiting 111 online, booking an appointment with your GP or visiting your local pharmacy,
Also in this issue... MEET OUR CYCLING PARAMEDICS. Ian Shortman and Andy Wilson are our only permanent paramedic team on two wheels. THE VOLUNTEERS WHO ARE ANYTHING BUT BASIC. Find out about the volunteer doctors who give up their free time to support our crews. INSPIRING THE FUTURE. Giving school children an insight into the ambulance service. BECOMING A PARAMEDIC. Meet Gemma who made it her mission to become a paramedic at the age of 11.
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We hope you enjoy the read! Take care and stay safe. Take care and stay safe. NWAS COMMUNICATIONS TEAM @nwasofficial
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DO YOU HAVE A STORY TO SHARE WITH US? If so, please get in touch by emailing: communications@nwas.nhs.uk.
@NWAmbulance nwasofficial
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MEET OUR CHIEF PHARMACIST. We’ve caught up with Chief Pharmacist Rachael Fallon to discuss her role and get some handy self-care tips.
Inspired by her childhood love for chemistry, Rachael began her career as a pharmacist after undertaking work experience in a community pharmacy before going on to complete her degree. Rachael then spent many years working at various hospital trusts in leadership positions. After already working very closely with the ambulance service, it felt a natural fit for her to apply for the chief pharmacist position here when it became available in 2019.
“I felt I could add value and make a difference both in the ambulance service and hopefully at a national level. I love a challenge and this felt like it would be a good move for me.” Rachael leads pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as well as the Medicines Team: “The team handles the procurement, assembly, and distribution of medicines for use across the service and also leads on medicines use reviews, controlled drug management, incidents relating to medicines and medicines safety.
“This last year there has been a focus on controlled drugs and supporting the trust to get a Home Office Licence to allow the storage and supply of these. “The Medicines Team was also heavily involved in the COVID-19 vaccination hub, including the setting up and overseeing the clinical aspects of the service as well as all of the vaccine handling.” Rachael has a very varied role and is our medicines safety officer. She has set up and now chairs an Ambulance Sector Medicines Safety Officer group to support collaboration and share learning to make the use of medicines as safe as possible. In addition, she works with a team of pharmacists who work in our Clinical Hub predominantly within our emergency control rooms responding to toxic ingestion calls, where their unique knowledge of medicines is used to aid patient care. Rachael and her team have some big priorities that they’re working on at the moment too, including a number of reviews into the medicines our clinicians adminster and handle.
Rachael’s top self-care tips:
At this time of year there are generally more circulating viruses so it is important we all take some time for self care: eat well, sleep well and exercise. An easy, healthy lunch could be a hot hearty soup to fuel you for the day.
I always make sure I have simple analgesia, such as paracetamol, at home. If I do get a cough or cold I usually opt for hot honey with lemon or a sugar free cordial with hot water. I don’t favour branded cough and cold medicines, just rest, paracetamol and fluids. Drinking plenty of fluids is important to keep hydrated.
A hot water bottle (or wheat pack) can help ease aches and pains, ensure it is wrapped in towelling to avoid burns and don’t use boiling water.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, I’d encourage everyone to take up all the vaccines you’re eligible for, including the COVID-19 booster and flu jab. Vaccines are an excellent way of protecting yourself and your family. Remember to look after yourselves: get vaccinated, eat well, sleep well and exercise.
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Out of the darkness.
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“I went to the darkest place I have ever been. I was a broken man, too poorly to work and existing without hope or decadence and I was losing the will to live.”
Sharing your experience of struggling with mental health to help others takes courage and an unparalleled strength of character. For some people helping others is a big part of their continued healing process - this is exactly what Paramedic Eamonn Higgins has chosen to do. Eamonn, based in Accrington, has been a paramedic for the ambulance service for over 30 years - he was one of the first paramedics to qualify in the then-Lancashire Ambulance Service in 1990.
Through Eamonn’s smile, you would never guess what he has been through in the two years. Eamonn credits his recovery to the unwavering support of his Lancashire based management team at NWAS. We talk to him about his experience.
“In March 2020, three days before the first lockdown, my relationship broke down with my long term partner of 11 years who left with my step children. I went from living in a typical bustling family house to suddenly finding myself in solitude and in lockdown. “To avoid this I threw myself into work, sometimes working six to seven shifts a week to try and cope with the loneliness, isolation and what was happening in my personal life. I had a lack of appetite and when I did eat, it was junk food. I couldn’t sleep and I felt trapped. I was burning myself out without realising.
“Alongside this I was having trouble with my son who has a drug habit who no longer lived with me. My 90-year-old mother has dementia and I was her carer and looking after her needs. Due to all the stress I developed severe tinnitus and started to self-medicate with alcohol when I got home from a shift to try and cope.”
“My managers got wind of what had happened and came to see me. From that point on things started to get better. I realised I had to do something as my quality of life was so poor. They showed me that it really is ok not to be ok at NWAS.”
“They helped me to enrol onto a programme run by Able Futures - an organisation funded through the Department for Work and Pensions, which gives help and support to people with mental health issues in order to return and remain in good health at work. I also contacted Inspire Lancashire’s drug and alcohol service and received help from them. “It was a good feeling to be made to be felt so valued by NWAS, nothing was too much trouble.”
With help from Able Futures, Inspire, occupational health and his GP, Eamonn has now been back at work full time for ten months with no sickness absence since. His managers have worked with Eamonn and made adjustments to his working shifts which are helping his mental health.
“I am now in fine health, both physically and mentally. I run six miles twice a week and I have lost two and a half stone in weight and drink alcohol now only in moderation. My mum is now in a nursing home and my son is receiving help. Life is better.
“I hope to continue serving my community as an employee of NWAS for many years to come. I have always been very proud to wear the green uniform and never more so after my experiences. “I want to thank all my colleagues and my managers for helping me pull through the hardest time.”
Eamonn’s experiences have now become a survival guide for others as he is helping colleagues with their mental health who are going through a similar experience as himself. “My advice to any of my colleagues and to anybody going through this; speak up and talk to your manager, the help is there.”
These life events became too much for Eamonn to handle and led him to have a breakdown.
“I went to the darkest place I have ever been. I was a broken man, too poorly to work and existing without hope or decadence and I was losing the will to live. I continued to self-medicate with alcohol to a greater extent. “I caught COVID-19 which has since left me with memory problems which are slowly resolving. I can honestly say the last two years have been truly the worst in my life.”
Eamonn says he is overwhelmed with the positve support and help given to him by his local management team during his darkest times. 5
A fourth generation ambulance service worker. You may recognise Kayley from the BBC Ambulance documentary. She has had a 12-year career with us; spending two years as a 999 call handler, four years in dispatch (allocating vehicles to patients), followed by six years as a performance manager. Since February 2021, Kayley has been acting up as control manager, a role which is continuing today on a permanent basis.
Kayley said: “Initially I was only acting up for six months but I have been offered the job full time which I am really pleased about. The past two years have been really challenging with high demands placed on all the staff due to an increase in 999 calls.” Kayley is a fourth generation ambulance service worker in her family; her father was an assistant operations manager, uncle an emergency medical technician, grandfather and great grandfather both ‘ambulance men’ as they were known then. So there’s always been an influence on her to be part of the service, and of course a touch of friendly rivalry. But one thing is for sure, they’ve not been on a TV documentary series with over 2.3 million viewers! We asked Kayley about her appearance on the prime time show. She said: “I was around when they filmed a series a couple of years ago, so remembered one of the producers despite not being filmed. However, this time being a control manager, I was captured by the cameras a lot but didn’t mind.”
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Recalling the part which featured Kayley, she said:
“When Scottish Ambulance Service power went completely down in early 2021, I did have a little panic inside. It was a situation I hadn’t faced before so I had to think quickly, stay calm and work to find a quick solution. But we got through as a team and I was proud of how everyone in the control stepped up.” Asked what she believes is the best part of the job, Kayley said: “That’s easy, the people I work with; without them this job would be a lot harder to cope with, they understand your frustrations and some of the conversations that are had on nights are not for repeating! You spend 60 hours a week working with the same people, so I have made some friends for life.”
IAN SHORTMAN AND ANDY WILSON ARE OUR ONLY PERMANENT PARAMEDIC TEAM ON TWO WHEELS.
They respond to 999 calls within Manchester city centre just like any ambulance. And like any ambulance, remarkably, they carry all the lifesaving equipment as well. Speed is their advantage, something the pair take great pride in. They can regularly beat their engine-powered colleagues to incidents as certain highway restrictions don’t apply to them being on a bike. And in situations where every minute matters, that can be vital. Ian says: “We don’t take risks though. We understand how vulnerable we are as road users.
“Obviously response cars and ambulances have to follow the road laws. However, there are a number of exemptions we can claim as cyclists; for example, we can legally cross pedestrianised areas. Therefore we can take shorter routes than motorised vehicles can, and nine times out of ten, that means beating them to the scene. “The next big advantage of having the bikes is that between us, we can treat the majority of patients without them needing to go to the hospital. We are the first responder to over 1,600 incidents a year. As a result, we redirect 1,000 ambulance attendances per year. That means in Greater Manchester, we have more ambulances free to go to other people.”
Ian and Andy certainly have plenty of experience. Both recently passed milestones in their service. Ian was presented with a medal for the Queen’s Award for good conduct and 20 year long service, while Andy received his 25-years long service award from the trust.
Between them on the bikes alone, they have 29 years’ worth of saddle sores and terrible weather. However, neither holds any ambition of swapping their handlebars for a steering wheel back inside an ambulance cab. Andy says: “It’s the best job in the world. It’s a very challenging and demanding job, but our rewards are incredible. The only times we aren’t out on the bikes is on Christmas Day or in extreme weather.
“I love being outside in the city, we get to know the people here, and the local community is great.” “We are the public face of the ambulance service for many people as well, as most of the public won’t get to see a paramedic outside of an emergency, so they will come up to ask us questions and advice. The interaction is really enjoyable.”
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We’re talking menopause. It’s a taboo topic even in this day and age, so we’re helping to break down the barriers and normalise talking about this very real change of life. Team NWAS members Louise and Emma openly share their menopause journeys with us. Paramedic Emma Bradley, 51, has been in the ambulance service for 26 years working on the frontline. She first noticed early signs of the menopause two to three years ago.
She explained: ”Initially, it was occasional hot flushes which then became increasingly regular several times a day at worst. At this stage, I didn’t really appreciate that it could be hormonally linked as my cycle was still regular. However, once the night sweats, insomnia, mood swings and debilitating fatigue commenced I strongly suspected the menopause was the cause. Following several blood tests to rule out other causes, I was given a potential perimenopause diagnosis.”
Emma felt that being a paramedic going through the menopause was particularly hard, as due to her symptoms she was unable to control the environment she was working in. After a discussion with her managers, she was given alternative duties which involved her becoming a crew advisor for the Clinical Hub. The Clinical Hub is within our emergency operations centres and helps patients to get the right care when they have called 999 but their condition is not immediately life-threatening.
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She said: “This was fantastic, as working in the hub enabled me to have a fan, take in adequate fluids, have access to a bathroom and pace my workload in order to avoid being overly fatigued. Moving to an office environment has allowed me to return to work and manage my symptoms.
“I am extremely grateful that NWAS has acknowledged my situation and made allowances for my menopausal challenges. I have been able to work my existing operational rota meaning my shifts are manageable 9-10 hours which I am extremely grateful for.”
We launched our menopause policy earlier this year and as part of it, all our affected staff are encouraged to speak to their line managers so they can discuss and consider how they can best support the staff member and what adjustments they will need.
Emma added: “I would like to reassure other female members of staff who are struggling with menopausal issues that they should not fear admitting their problems, challenges and limitations. I personally have been treated fairly and with respect. Please do not hesitate to inform your line managers if you’re struggling. Alternative roles are available and you will definitely be well supported.”
111 Team Manager Louise Hall started experiencing symptoms of the menopause five years ago, at the age of 44. She told us: “At first, my symptoms were a bit non-descript. My nails started going brittle, my hair became thinner and my skin became very dry. It wasn’t until three and a half years ago that I started experiencing uncontrolled anxiety, which was so severe I ended up blacking out a couple of times.” Following Louise’s anxiety attacks, she booked an appointment with her GP who confirmed she was peri menopausal. Since her diagnosis, her symptoms have got progressively worse. She explained, “I get dry eyes, digestive problems, brain fog, joint pain, mood swings, night sweats, hot flushes and fatigue, which is crippling. Some days it’s a struggle to just get out of bed and get dressed.”
After discussing her symptoms with her line manager, she has received support from the trust: “My line manager has been great, I have been given short notice annual leave a couple of times when the fatigue has been so debilitating. My rostering team are aware that I don’t sleep very well so they tend to give me shifts between 10am and 10pm, so if I have not slept very well I am not having to come in for the early start. That really helps.”
From her own experience, Louise is now helping others in the trust understand and manage their symptoms. She is one of 20 menopause champions who volunteer their time to support staff in need.
“There are a lot of women out there who are embarrassed by the symptoms and don’t feel comfortable talking, so having the menopause champions and having the menopause cafes where they can come and have those conversations is great.”
LOUISE’S TOP TIPS • Do some research
• Speak to a menopause champion
• Be as open as you can when speaking to your manager • Speak to your GP
• Don’t assume - some symptoms will be the menopause but not all 9
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“NO MATTER WHAT LIFE THROWS AT YOU, YOU CAN GET THROUGH IT.” People grieve in different ways - there is no right or wrong way to react to losing a loved one. Many people find it helpful to reach out and talk to someone about their feelings, others deal with their loss in private.
For 28-year-old Emergency Operations Centre Audit Manager Jacob Pitt from Widnes, losing his one-year-old baby son triggered a depression that saw him hit a low he thought he would never escape from. He and his wife divorced, he became homeless, he spiralled out of control and attempted to take his own life on two occasions, and has since been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Jacob, who has worked for us for five years, wants to talk about his experience as a way of helping people who may be going through something similar and feel they have no way out.
“At our 20 week scan, my then wife and I found out that our baby had a defect on his heart – instead of having four chambers, he had two. We were told to expect the worst and that our baby would have a nine out of ten chance of passing away at birth.” “It was exceptionally tough to handle but we had faith. Oliver was born kicking and screaming and crying but then very quickly went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated. He spent the next five months in hospital having open heart surgery, keyhole surgery, diaphragm surgery and many more procedures.”
Oliver came out of hospital at four months old and Jacob says that time in his life was euphoric. Eight months later he and his family were celebrating Oliver’s first birthday. Then two days later Oliver tragically passed away.
“My wife was seven months pregnant at the time and my response to what happened was to develop a thick skin to protect both her and my unborn child. I bottled everything up and put on a brave face for them. Looking back this is when my mental health started to decline. “I started compulsively spending money, drinking extortionate amounts and generally not being nice to people. People would try to help me and I would fight them off.
“My second son George was born two months after Oliver
passed away in August 2018 and I found bonding difficult. I guess it was because I was stopping myself from being close to anyone who would or could be taken away from me again.” The next few months for Jacob were particularly dark and culminated in him taking an overdose in an attempt to take his life. Thankfully Jacob physically recovered and decided to take a career break and joined his dad in Canada for seven months, where his wife and George would later join him.
The family came back to England in December 2019, a short time later COVID hit and he and his wife separated. Jacob ended up living in his mum’s house but when that didn’t work out, he found himself homeless living in a shelter in Anfield in the middle of a pandemic. “I eventually managed to find a flat in Kirkby but I wasn’t happy there. I was so far away from my son, friends and family in Warrington, I was isolated, in lockdown and had a load of debt to pay off. I also had to ration food and was having one meal a day. I was too embarrassed to ask for help. I would ensure I went to my family at least once a week for tea and there I would eat as much food as I possibly could to fill the void.”
Shortly after, Jacob’s granddad passed away and it hit him hard, this led him to attempt to take his life for a second time. Jacob says that it is only through the help of a colleague and help from the mental health car that came to him are the reasons he is here now. “I wasn’t allowed out of hospital unless I could stay with somebody and luckily my friend stepped in and realised how bad a situation I was in.”
Jacob has turned a corner with his mental health, finding an anonymous walking group online and throwing himself into his career has helped him tremendously.
“The last ten months have been so positive for me. I have made decisions based on what I want to do. I have got a flat in Warrington, I see my son and I am focussing on my career and I have never been happier.” Having a borderline personality disorder is something Jacob is not ashamed of.
“I am very aware I am on the spectrum and I am proud to be who I am. There is so much stigma attached to personality disorders and I want to show that you can be successful and no matter what life throws at you, you can get through it.”
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The volunteers who are anything but BASIC. Did you know we work with almost two dozen doctors who give up their free time to attend complex incidents in support of ambulance crews? They are called the BASICs doctors; however, they’re anything but basic. BASICs stands for British Association for Immediate Medical Care and operates as an umbrella organisation. Two independent schemes operate within our trust: The Cheshire and Shropshire Immediate Care Group and Beep Doctors who work in Cumbria.
femoral fracture, and give him some antibiotics – these enhanced skills can complement the skills and experience brought by the ambulance crew. “We are here to support the ambulance service. That could mean providing advanced decision making, critical care interventions or helping with response times and just being an extra pair of hands.”
At least one night a week they’re operational in their own response car. Outside of that time, they can be contacted via pager to respond if they’re available.
Jon Taylor is an anaesthetist in Merseyside by day and has volunteered as a BASICs doctor since 2019.
“We’ll go to incidents where we can provide additional support and skills to assist ambulance crews, for example, to offer enhanced pain relief, procedural sedation or surgical procedures at the roadside. “The first job that I attended as a solo responder was six months ago, it was a motorcyclist who’d crashed and had an open fracture of his leg. I was the senior clinician on the scene. From a hands-on point of view, I was able to provide sedation, apply a traction splint to reduce his
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You can find out more about BASICs doctors at the Cheshire and Shropshire Immediate Care Group at csibasics.org.uk and Beep Doctors in Cumbria at beepdoctors.co.uk
CALL 999 TO CANCEL AMBULANCE - plea to people who waste time.
Over one million pounds of public money was wasted in the last 12 months after ambulance crews in the North West were called out but then found nobody at the address to treat.
An average of around 1,050 of our ambulance vehicles responded every month to find no patient at the scene of the emergency, at a cost of more than £177,000 to the NHS. In addition almost 6,000 ambulance journeys per month were wasted when ambulance crews responded to patients who refused care and treatment, costing the NHS a staggering £1 million. So both combined, wasted ambulance journeys cost us £13,803,627 in the last 12 months.
This is the equivalent to any one of the following:
Director of Operations Ged Blezard said: “There are many reasons why people may not be there when our crews arrive. Sometimes they decide to go to hospital with a family member, or decide they don’t need our help anymore and get treatment elsewhere - but they don’t let us know.
“This could be down to unrealistic expectations of how quickly ambulances respond, or because we are simply that busy that they unfortunately have to wait longer for a response than we would like. “This isn’t something that has happened as a result of the pandemic, we see figures like this year after year. “It is really important that if people no longer need us, they call 999 to cancel so that we can get to the next patient quickly who may be in a life or death situation.
“We want to be there for the people of the North West and not wasting our time trying to find people who don’t need or want our help.”
• 90 brand new emergency ambulances
• The salaries and staffing costs for 281 paramedics or 405 emergency medical technicians • 1,200 high spec monitoring devices for heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen levels and defibrillation of patients in cardiac arrest • 2,760,735 blankets to keep patients warm • 1,453 ambulance stretchers
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INSPIRING THE FUTURE. Giving school children an insight into the ambulance service can be invaluable, according to one man who gives up his time to speak in schools. Graeme Stafford, an emergency medical technician from Tameside, is an NHS ambassador and volunteers his time to go into local schools and community groups to talk about our services and using our 999 service appropriately.
The NHS Ambassadors Programme encourages people working or studying in healthcare to volunteer to speak in schools and colleges about their roles, or participate in careers events and activities. He’s been doing this since 2017 and believes it’s vital:
“You can see the impact you make on children on the job. When you go to their homes as part of an ambulance crew, if they know about the service or have been educated about it, they’re a lot calmer. They recognise the uniform and they recognise the vehicle because they’ve had a look around it; there’s nothing scary, and they know what to expect. “I believe it should be a big part of education because if we start educating children now, we’ll reap the rewards in 10 to 15 years. “I am so pleased that we now have a student paramedic working with us who had a talk in his school from me, which helped to inspire him to join the service. That’s the reason why I do it.” The pandemic massively impacted on Graeme’s efforts and he was unable to do this work for almost two years. However he is now undertaking around one session with schools per month which is risk assessed by himself and his local operational team, and carried out safely in line with COVID-19 guidance. 14
Photographs taken pre-COVID-19 pandemic
Remembering a volunteer hero.
We’re lucky to have an army of 1000+ volunteers who help us and our patients within everything we do, including in our paramedic emergency service and patient transport service. Our volunteers mean the world to us and we form great bonds with them. They are loved and recognised, not only by us but also by their local communities for the amazing work they do as they selflessly go out of their way to help others. We were very lucky to have had the pleasure of working alongside a very special volunteer called Mike Olley. Mike was no exception - he had been a community first responder (CFR) for over 12 years with us and dedicated his retirement to volunteering; spending around 40 hours every week to respond to high priority emergencies in his community. Mike continuously fundraised to purchase defibrillators, even managing to fund a defibrillator for the front of his family home for the benefit of his own immediate neighbourhood. He led the Rainford CFR group from its inception and taught first aid for in excess of 20 years. Sadly, Mike died two years ago, at a time when he was still an active responder and campaigner. In a brutal twist, he passed away whilst on duty as a CFR outside his family home of a major stroke. Your Call caught up with Mike’s son, Gareth, who spoke about his father’s huge contribution to his own community as well the ambulance service.
Gareth told us that Mike’s passion for first aid was born during his 31-year career in the police force, working within Merseyside Police’s firearms department, and delivering first aid training to his colleagues. Following his retirement, Mike found a way to continue with his desire to help people by volunteering as one of the very first CFR we had.
In the last few years of Mike’s service with us, he was joined on the Rainford CFR team by an ex-police colleague of his called Peter Gregory. Gareth recalls that Peter responded to a cardiac arrest incident in his community, which coincidentally turned out to be another ex-police colleague, Tony Foster. Peter used a defibrillator on Tony, which ultimately saved his life before the ambulance arrived. Tony was so grateful for this piece of equipment and the quick response that was attributed to the CFR team in Rainford, that he started to fundraise and support the group by campaigning for more team members and more defibrillators for the community they were all part of.
Following Mike’s untimely passing, Tony also raised money from the community and approached the Parish Council to place a memorial bench in Mike’s honour, which proudly sits on the lawn outside Rainford Village Hall in front of the War Memorial, a place which Mike proudly attended every year for the Remembrance Day services. Mike’s outstanding dedication to his local community, the ambulance service and the wider public will never be forgotten by his friends and colleagues and his efforts will continue to save many more lives in the future. Rest in peace Mike. If you are interesting in becoming a volunteer, please see our website www.nwas.nhs.uk\get-involved.
DEFIBRILLATOR LOW DOWN
DEFIBRILLATORS ARE VITAL PIECES OF EQUIPMENT THAT SAVE LIVES.
THERE ARE AROUND 10,000 DEFIBRILLATORS IN THE NORTH WEST, AND MORE THAN EVER, FUNDRAISING IS TAKING PLACE TO GET AS MANY ACCESSIBLE DEFIBRILLATORS IN COMMUNITIES AS POSSIBLE.
IN 2020, WE TREATED 3,072 PATIENTS WHO HAD SUFFERED A CARDIAC ARREST AND OUT OF THIS 83.9% OF PEOPLE HAD A CARDIAC ARREST AT HOME.
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“Becoming an emergency medical technician has been the biggest career highlight so far.” Shahanoor Uddin shares his career path through NWAS.
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Shahanoor, known fondly by his work mates as Noor, has recently celebrated successfully completing the classroom element of his emergency medical technician (EMT) apprenticeship. Before joining NWAS in October 2018, Noor was working in a voluntary role helping his local community and mosque when he came across an advert for our ambulance care assistant in the patient transport service (PTS) pre-employment programme on Facebook. “I have always wanted to work for the ambulance service as I love to help people who really need it, but wasn’t sure I had the skills or knowledge to do so as I had only worked voluntarily previously. It seemed like an ideal opportunity for me to gain a good insight and experience.” Our pre-employment programme is currently run alongside recruitment into our PTS ambulance care assistant roles and is supported by Health Education England. The programme is designed to help people who are not in work to develop skills and experience to move closer to seeking employment. On completion of the programme, attendees are offered a guaranteed interview for the positions available. “I found the programme really helpful and the support I received from the tutors, Sharon and Lisa, was amazing. Whilst on the programme I completed four weeks of clinical training including manual handling and then I
went on the road with a PTS crew for six weeks to gain experience.
“The programme gave me first-hand experience of what the job is all about and made me feel at home and comfortable. I met a lot of new faces and made a lot of new friends and colleagues along the way.
“I felt really prepared when it came to my interview for a PTS care assistant role, as Sharon and Lisa really helped to build my confidence with interview techniques.” Noor was successful at interview and became an ambulance care assistant. When the pandemic hit, Noor along with other PTS colleagues volunteered to help support our 999 service. They received additional training and worked alongside emergency service clinicians providing a safe and effective service. Noor loved it so much that when a further opportunity came to train as an EMT via the EMT apprenticeship scheme he seized it.
Noor attended his EMT course in April 2021 and fast forward to now he is part of a crew responding to patients, working towards full completion of his apprenticeship to become a qualified EMT, and he loves it. “Starting my career in PTS has helped me gain confidence and helped give me a first-hand experience in the ambulance service. It has also boosted my communication skills when it came to talking to patients, family members and hospital staff. “Completing my classroom element of the EMT apprenticeship and going operational has been my biggest career highlight to date and ultimately I want to progress to become a paramedic. “The pre-employment programme gave me the foundation to achieve what I wanted to achieve.”
NWAS pre-employment programme
We deliver pre-employment programmes in line with our workforce needs, predominantly within the PTS ambulance care assistant role. To be eligible for the programme you will need to:
• Hold a valid EU driving licence with no more than three endorsement points
• Have a good level of physical fitness to enable manual handling to be undertaken • Be caring and empathetic
• Have good communication skills • Have customer service skills • Be a good listener
• Good general level of education to a minimum of Level 1 Literacy and Numeracy standards
Keep an eye on our website and social media for more information as to when these courses will run throughout 2022. 17
A drive to help people - meet Gemma.
Gemma Sanderson decided she wanted to become a paramedic at 11 years of age after witnessing her mum break her leg.
It was a particularly nasty break with an open fracture. The ambulance crew who treated her mum at the time talked Gemma through exactly what they were doing and, in her words, ‘they were amazing.’ Gemma says she knew from that moment on she would be a paramedic. Everything Gemma did after that was centred on becoming a paramedic, she tried her best at school and loved English, mathematics and science – particularly biology. Alongside doing voluntary work with St John Ambulance, she studied public services at college before working with disabled children, transporting them safely to and from school which she loved. This progressed to Gemma joining our patient transport service where she stayed for a year and a half before leaving to study paramedic science at Coventry University.
Gemma graduated and started life as a paramedic in Team NWAS in 2012 and has never looked back. She now works in one of our urgent care practitioner (UCP) roles – a team of 12 nurses and paramedics.
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“Working as one of our UCPs, we rotate between road shifts and working in the Clinical Hub. We use our unique skills to care for patients in their homes. We have training in wound closure which means carrying extra wound dressings and equipment to help avoid an unnecessary hospital attendance.”
“As UCPs, we spend half of our time responding to a wide range of calls in our response cars, including urgent and less urgent calls, providing assessment, treatment and referrals for patients that can be managed in the community. The other half of our time we’re in the Clinical Hub, assessing patients with less serious conditions over the telephone and supporting ambulance crews with clinical advice.” With access to a mobile phone and laptop when operational, the team is currently trialling a combination of telephone triage and face to face assessment. This is ideal for patients that cannot be assessed or treated safely over the telephone.
“We will ring a patient back to see what help is needed. If we feel we can help, for example if somebody had a head wound and needs it gluing, we will attend and free up an ambulance so it can go to a higher priority call which could be a life-threatening situation such as a cardiac arrest.”
Gemma says she loves her job and has recently completed her Masters in Advanced Clinical Practice. “It was a hard slog working full time and doing my masters over four years but worth it. I love my job and I love the fact that every day is different. I love talking to people and finding out their stories, and I love the fact that Team NWAS is supportive – we all have good banter and look out for one another as we know all too well the emotions that each other is going through.”
Labels don’t stop me. Meeting our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) paramedics at 12 years of age made a lasting impression on newly qualified paramedic Matt Bousfield. It was at this moment he fell in love with the role and did everything he could to make his intended career happen. Nine years later Matt talks candidly about his health growing up and what fuelled him to succeed.
“I was always considered a ‘naughty’ child at school, yet my parents could see something wasn’t quite right as I was polite, caring and didn’t fit into that label. At seven years of age I was diagnosed with ADHD and high functioning Asperger’s Syndrome. We made a family decision for me to be medicated and it really helped to settle me down.”
Matt took a keen interest in science at school and worked hard at these subjects. It was during this time that Matt, through his dad’s job, got to meet our HART paramedics. “My dad was a firefighter and at the time he was working in Liverpool, where the fire service and our HART team is based, delivering combined service training. I would go to pick my dad up with my mum, who is a nurse, and I got chatting to some of the HART paramedics. I instantly fell in love with what they did. To me the role seemed like the perfect cross between a nurse and a firefighter everything I have known with mum and dad. I knew from then on what career I would pursue and what my dream job would be – a HART paramedic.”
Matt went on to do a health and social care course at college and it was here that his desire to help other people really developed.
“I became a student ambassador for mental health at college as it wasn’t unusal at that age to live with depression and anxiety for a number of different reasons. I would help my peers and signpost them to where they could get support and help.” Matt graduated from college and at that time was also very heavily involved in volunteering with St John
Ambulance. He applied to study paramedic science at Liverpool John Moores University and was accepted in 2018. Matt graduated in May 2021, two years after his brother graduated from the same university and who also works in team NWAS as a paramedic – a career idea Matt takes full credit for on both their behalves. Matt recently completed his first shift which happened to be a Friday night shift.
“My first block of shifts was a Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. It is fair to say that working nights was a shock to the system and quite hard to get used to but something inside you keeps you going. I was shattered by Monday!
“I do feel a sense of honour putting my uniform on, it feels like a massive achievement. I have struggled a little bit with my ADHD and Asperger’s but training to become a paramedic has helped me immensely with my confidence and communication skills. So much so that now I advocate the ambulance service to students in college, helping them with their personal statements and interview preparations.”
What is a HART paramedic?
Set up in 2009 in response to the national terror threat, HART members are experienced paramedics trained up to a national standard. The team is split between two sites in Manchester and Liverpool and uses specialist equipment and skills to safely access and treat patients in difficult and hazardous conditions.
NWAS was one of the first ambulance services to implement HART in the country. The team members are trained and equipped to safely work at heights, in confined spaces, in both swift and still water and use breathing apparatus, refreshing these skills every seven weeks. 19
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