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Showing results for tags 'Paramedic'.
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News Article
Ambulance services on fringe of collapse
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Ambulance services are under intense pressure, with record numbers of callouts and the most urgent, category-one, calls last month. BBC Two's Newsnight programme spent from 08:00 to 20:00 on Monday at six hospitals with the longest delays handing patients over from paramedics to accident and emergency staff. This should take 15 minutes or less - but crews often wait many hours and sometimes whole 12-hour shifts, with ambulances queuing outside unable to respond to other emergency calls. At Royal Cornwall, 25 ambulances were queuing by the afternoon, three for at least 10-and-a-h -
News Article
Doctors to overhaul car wreck rescue techniques amid new evidence
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
There are plans for a major overhaul of how people are rescued from car wrecks amid growing evidence that current methods where people wait to be cut free may be harmful. Last year there were 127,967 casualties and 1,560 deaths in England caused by motor vehicle collisions. During the same period, more than 7,000 patients needed to helped out of the vehicle through a process known as extrication, where rescue crews use “Jaws of Life” and other tools to pry apart the wreckage, and then carefully lift people out. “Since at least the 1980s, firefighters have been trained with movement m -
News Article
Paramedics set up units inside A&E to ease long queues
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Paramedics have begun looking after patients inside an A&E unit, in an initiative by the health service to stop ambulances queueing outside hospitals and ease the strain on overstretched casualty staff. The scheme has led to patients being handed over much more quickly at a hospital that was one of the worst in England for sick people being stuck, sometimes for many hours, in the back of an ambulance. Queen’s hospital in Romford, in east London, has set up an ambulance receiving centre (ARC) near its main casualty unit in which two London Ambulance Service paramedics are on duty- Posted
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- Paramedic
- Accident and Emergency
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News Article
Student paramedics are missing out on learning how to save lives because they are wasting hours in ambulances outside A&E instead of attending calls, it has been revealed. The College of Paramedics and ambulance directors say the hold-ups mean trainees are missing vital on-the-job experience, leading to fears over the safety of patients. Will Boughton, of the College of Paramedics Trustee for Professional Standards, said handover delays had become a problem for trainees’ development and exposure to real-life experience, meaning training had become “unpredictable”. If steps w -
News Article
Paramedics are ‘leaving in droves’ as ambulance callouts almost double
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The number of calls for an ambulance in England have almost doubled since 2010, with warnings of record pressures on the NHS that are seeing A&E patients stuck in corridors and many paramedics quitting the job. Ambulance calls have risen by 10 times more than the number of ambulance workers, according to a new analysis of NHS data carried out by the GMB union. An increase in people seeking emergency treatment, GPs unable to cope with demand and cuts to preventive care are all being blamed for the figures. While the figures represent all calls for an ambulance, some of which go un- Posted
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- Paramedic
- Accident and Emergency
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News Article
Crowded A&Es mean Scottish paramedics play the waiting game
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Paramedic Moira Shaw is eyeing the frantic activity at the front doors of Edinburgh's emergency department. She is waiting for the go-ahead to hand over her patients to medics and answer the next 999 call. It can be a long wait. Last week, 1 in 10 ambulances across Scotland took more than 80 minutes to drop patients at an emergency department. BBC Scotland joined Moira and colleague Blair Paul at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where they were among seven ambulances waiting to drop off patients. "At the moment we can be an hour waiting, we sit in the ambulance and we wait- Posted
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- Accident and Emergency
- Scotland
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News Article
Welsh Ambulance: Paramedics say job is soul destroying
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
"Absolutely soul destroying" is how one paramedic describes his job. He is not alone. Over the past few months, BBC Wales has been contacted by employees from the Welsh Ambulance Service who paint a dire picture of a service under immense pressure. Ambulance waiting times have climbed and climbed throughout the pandemic. The impact that has on patients is well known - but what about those on the other side? Mark, who did not want to disclose his real name or show his face for fear that he would lose his job, described the stress of his shifts with a radio strapped to his ch- Posted
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- Paramedic
- Lack of resources
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Content Article
Pre-Hospital Care Podcast: Designing the RSI
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Techniques
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- Human factors
- Emergency medicine
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News Article
More than half of NHS paramedics suffering from burnout
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Over half of paramedics are suffering from burnout caused by “overwhelming” workloads, record numbers of 999 calls and the public misusing the ambulance service, a study has found. Frontline crew members also blame lack of meal breaks, delays in reaching seriously ill patients and their shift often not ending when it should for their high levels of stress and anxiety. The working lives of ambulance staff are so difficult that nine out of 10 display symptoms of “depersonalisation”, characterised by “cynicism, detachment and reduced levels of empathy” when dealing with patients who nee- Posted
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- Mental health
- Fatigue / exhaustion
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Content Article
This study from Rachel Beldon and Joanne Garside looked at the contributory factors for burnout in the ambulance service to inform recommendations for positive change. 94% of ambulance staff in this study reported a sense of personal achievement within their professional role; however, more than 50% were experiencing varying levels of burnout with 87% displaying moderate or high levels of depersonalisation towards their work. Causes of stress were complex: themes attributed were a perceived lack of management support, the public's misuse of the ambulance service, involuntary overtime- Posted
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- Fatigue / exhaustion
- Mental health
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News Article
Paramedics jailed for stealing medication from dying patients
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Two paramedics have been sentenced to five years in prison for stealing medication from terminally ill patients. Ruth Lambert, 33, and Jessica Silvester, 29, of the South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb), preyed specifically on people receiving end-of-life care packages, Kent Police said in a statement. The pair, who live together at Gap Road in Margate, accessed addresses of patients in the east Kent area through their work and posed as nurses to gain access to patients’ homes to steal morphine and other painkillers. They worked in tandem, one researching the addresses and- Posted
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News Article
The paramedics keeping patients out of hospital
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Chest pains for a 63-year-old man might typically mean a hospital trip to check it out. But after Clive Pietzka's 999 call, an advanced paramedic practitioner carried out tests and discharged him. The Welsh Ambulance Service Trust (WAST) job is one of those in a growing team who work to keep people out of hospital. Solutions like this are being sought following ambulance queues for hospital and worst ever performance figures. Mr Pietzka, from Barry, who has a heart problem, said initially he did not want to call an ambulance because of high demand. "They're very busy with C -
News Article
Paramedics issued body cams after surge in violent attacks
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Paramedics in London have started wearing body cameras after a 34% jump in the number of violent attacks on ambulance crews. A trial of the technology is being rolled out across the capital in areas where workers are thought to be more at risk based on past incidents. Paramedics can press a button to start recording if patients or the public become aggressive or abusive towards them. London Ambulance Service told The Independent there had been an increase in physical assaults in recent years. Attacks jumped from 468 in the financial year 2018-19 to 625 in the year 2019-20, a 34%- Posted
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- Paramedic
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Content Article
Bitter pill – A paramedic's tale
Anonymous posted an article in Florence in the Machine
I don’t ‘do’ mental health. Growing up, my family always had a stiff upper lip, told me to "take a breath and get on with it". It was seen very much as a weakness. If I was ever feeling upset about something that had happened at work, they would always retort back with a story far more gruesome and awful than mine. My family are all healthcare professionals. Dinner table talk usually turned to horror stories of car crashes, attempted murders, limbs falling off, wounds and cardiac arrests. Very interesting and often led to great discussions, but didn’t explore how we felt about being -
Content Article
Ambulance handover to emergency care standard V1.0
Claire Cox posted an article in Handover
The PRSB have collaborated with the Royal College of Physicians Health Informatics Unit on this project. Clinical leadership was provided by clinicians from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and the College of Paramedics (CoP). The standard has been developed with the support of professionals and patients. This resource includes: The standard Information model Information model (as Excel spreadsheet) Documentation Ambulance handover standard final report v1.0 Implementation guidance v1.0 Clinical Safety Case Report v0.3 - Currently being approv- Posted
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- Accident and Emergency
- Emergency medicine
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News Article
Midwives and paramedics to deliver flu and Covid vaccines, proposes DHSC
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
An 'expanded workforce' will be delivering flu and a potential COVID-19 vaccine, under proposals unveiled by the Government today. The three-week consultation also focuses on a proposal of mass vaccinations against COVID-19 using a yet-to-be-licensed vaccine, if one becomes available this year. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is hoping new legislation could come into effect by October, ahead of the winter season. The consultation proposes to amend the Human Medicine Regulations 2012 to "expand the workforce legally allowed to administer vaccines under NHS and loc- Posted
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- Virus
- Infection control
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Content Article
How NHS staff handle acute pressure in A&Es (June 2018)
Claire Cox posted an article in Stories from the front line
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- Accident and Emergency
- Patient
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