Diary of a paramedic student
My name is Michael Fletcher. I'm 30 years old and engaged to my girlfriend of seven years. She's also a student at St George's, training to be a doctor (imagine the boring dinner table conversations!). I live in Colliers Wood, a casual walk from the hospital, and can often be found cycling around the area.
“The ambulance crew were in total control... that was when the bug to be a paramedic bit me”
My story starts about 5,700 miles away in Johannesburg, South Africa. I completed a degree in chemical engineering and was working as an engineer-in-training for a large mining research company. A colleague of mine was epileptic and suffered a seizure one day. As one of the trained first aiders in the department, I was called to help. Using all the basics I'd been taught, we made sure she couldn't hurt herself and when the seizure was over, placed her in the recovery position. However, she started fitting again about five minutes after the first seizure. This then recurred around five or six times. I realised I was in over my head and called for an ambulance. The crew that arrived were in total control and knew exactly what to do. I remember thinking to myself, "I would love to be that person" – being able to walk into a room and display confidence, calm and reassurance to all around. I went to the hospital and got to sit in the front of the ambulance while blue-lighting through traffic. The bug had bitten...
“I've never been happier - the course has been brilliant”
I moved to the UK in 2005 following my engineering career, but the idea of becoming a paramedic never left me. In 2007 I gave up engineering and got a job as a personal assistant to a person with a disability, a job I've maintained on a part-time basis. In September 2008 I started the paramedic science course at the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences - and I've never been happier or looked back.
The course has been absolutely brilliant. The mixture of lectures, practical sessions, online learning and self directed study have kept me challenged and always wanting to learn more. Being taught by lecturers with paramedic backgrounds offers a wealth of experience. In addition we've had lecturers from nursing backgrounds, anaesthetics and even an international paramedic, offering a very rounded and broad education. Working with the London Ambulance Service on placements provides the perfect clinical experience to see what really happens with real patients. There's still nothing like flying your ambulance around Trafalgar Square with blue lights and sirens wailing!
“Hopefully I'll get to meet you and help you through the course”
I'm about to finish my second year and have started to practice paramedic skills. This is both exciting and frightening at the same time. I'm one of the class reps for my year, so I have a lot of involvement with the course administration. I'm also a 'peer-assisted learning mentor', so hopefully I'll get to meet you when you start university and help you through the ups and downs of the course.
In the meantime, take a look at my diary of a day at university and a day on placement.
A day at university
It's a 10am start this morning, which normally means getting into university at 9am for a coffee and to meet up with friends on the course. Latte ordered, and the big catch up begins.
Today’s lectures are covering the cardio-respiratory system and all the things that can go wrong. Particular focus is applied to myocardial infarctions or MIs (heart attacks) - how to diagnose them and what to do. The lecturer arrives and we are handed three pieces of cardboard - red, yellow and green (looks like today is going to be very interactive). An hour later, the class is shown a series of ECGs and we are asked to make a stand: red for heart attack, yellow for not sure and green for no heart attack. Yes, got the first one right! A very colourful lecture and I learnt a great deal. After that three hour marathon session, heads are a little sore and a lunch break is in order. Up to the university canteen we go and enjoy a hot lunch at a bargain price (not to mention the student discount).
At 2pm we're back in the lecture theatre. It's a little harder to concentrate after a big lunch, but the class settles down and we receive a lecture covering asthma, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and other respiratory problems. The day is rounded off with an update on the assignment we'll need to submit at the end of the module. All in all a tiring but very good day.
After dinner and a little TV, I check my emails and then log into the university’s online learning portal. Great, today's lecture notes have been uploaded. After downloading them and doing a little refresher, it's off to bed as we have another long day ahead. Tomorrow is a practical day involving skills. We're learning how to gain venous access and prepare fluids for drug administration... should be lots of fun!
A day on placement
The alarm starts to ring... it's dark, very dark...it's 5am - do I really have to wake up? I arrive at the station at 6.30am and start preparing for our 7am start. My crewmates arrive and, as I'm on placement, I take the tea and coffee order. We inspect our ambulance and make sure that we have all the equipment needed for any situation that we could be presented with today. The ambulance is ready: we have equipment, emergency drugs, and the most important thing – diesel, sirens and blue lights!
7.15am – a call comes in regarding a 56 year old male complaining of chest pain. We jump in the ambulance, put the sirens on and fight our way through the traffic. Seven minutes later we arrive at the patient's house and are greeted by his wife who is very anxious. My crewmate chats to her while I meet the patient, who is not looking particularly well, rather pale and sweaty. I get some basic history from him and he tells us that he was recently diagnosed as having very high cholesterol and his father died at the age of 60 from a heart attack. My crewmate and I exchange glances knowing the drill. He pops out to get the carry chair and prepares the ambulance while I get a few more details and explain what happens next. We carry him down the stairs and get him in the ambulance. An ECG trace on his heart confirms what we suspected: he is having a heart attack. We give the hospital a call, and make our way there as fast as possible. 8.10am – the patient is in the cardiac theatre where they can place a stent in his coronary artery and resupply the blood flow to his heart muscle. Not a bad start to the day.
The rest of the day sees us running around our area doing a range of emergency 999 calls from abdominal pain to a cut finger. We see 10 patients and of those we take eight to hospital, the other two we leave at home with some advice and a call to their GP to make a visit later that evening. After each patient, my paramedic placement mentor and I discuss the call. It's great to be able to learn from his years of experience working for the ambulance service.
It's 6.30pm as we head back to the station – hoping that we don't get another job because we're off duty at 7pm. Lady Luck is with us as we arrive back at the station with 15 minutes of our shift remaining and the crew for the night shift are ready and waiting to take over from us. A quick discussion with them to let them know what equipment we used during the day and we're off duty. I finish up and check all my paperwork before signing off and heading home. It's been a long tiring day, but I’m looking forward to another shift tomorrow.
