Sorry Cougar but it's been really busy.
😆
Looking forward to this. Filmed, in part, at my place. Dodged the cameras (I'm not photogenic), but some good friends and colleagues feature. Should be excellent!
I see it's NW this time so will be interesting to see how to compares to the last series.
WM, not NW 😉
Oops! I new what I meant.
Baseball bats over a parking space?
**** me.
poor sod 🙁
The one that had me in bits was the paramedic who had had 2 healthy kids & then 1 who due to a bad birth was brain damaged, yet she still does what is one of the most demanding jobs I can think of and then offers support to a woman in a difficult birth.
The closing line of "Its a privilege to do this & then you finish your shift put your kit in your locker and pick your daughter up from brownies", just makes me so angry that these people are treated like account numbers by those in power.
I have a friend of many years standing who works for the WM trust. Staffing, target times and general conditions are very bad in the service. They were not brilliant to start with and have only got worse...
Given the hours worked, responsibility and situations they work in - it is a terrifically hard job. They do great work and just don't get appreciated or treated as they should - by the service or some of the public...
Edit. Sorry, realised I just repeated myself from my post of 10 months again...
By the sounds it was very good again. I've not seen it I've been at work all week, going to watch it sometime but for personal reasons not just yet.
Cougar - Moderator
About time, I phoned ages ago.
[img]
[/img]I did have to phone for an ambulance for my stepdad a while back, at 6pm. After three calls it finally turned up at 2am.
They had had a busy night...
Drac, do you and your lot have any outlet for grieving/talking through experiences?
I ask, because two friends of mine are/were RCMP officers, and the horrific things they saw regularly, yet with no counselling/chaplaincy/talk sessions available, both suffered pretty serious PTSD that destroyed both their marriages.
Whatever the case, be well.
Drac, do you and your lot have any outlet for grieving/talking through experiences?
I can't speak for other trusts but yes we do. My role is pretty much that these days, I'm now there for staff welfare amongst other things. I will be alerted of potential incidents that a crew has been sent to. I will arrange to me with them ASAP after always aiming for less than an hour or at least a phone call with a follow up after soon after if required. The incident is recorded being sent to their line and senior manager and Occ health if need be.
I have the authority to tale the crew offline for as long as I feel necessary, even send them home if it is required. We also have access to counselling services for staff if necessary.
Good to hear. I may pm you with a question if that's okay.
I always think ambo staff, see stuff each day,that just one of those incidents may live with us for a lifetime, yet they do long shifts,are on call, have to react to life changing/life threatening situations, sometimes single handed,until back up arrives and for obvious reasons of patient confidentiality cant voice their feeling on bike forum.
Then theyre abused by drunks ad thugs, swore at, spat at and attacked, yet provide a free to use service to all.
what time and TV station is AMBULANCE on please
Of course.
what time and TV station is AMBULANCE on please
BBC 1 9pm in Thursday.
This week's is on iplayer.
Brilliant, gritty, harrowing, uplifting TV.
Doffs cap to all of you. Hero's in green.
Watched this am.
Excellent they make such a great job of catching the stories, the emioitons famalies go through and they also caught the emotions of the staff. That poor male dispatacher was heart broken and trying not show it, I do hope he got help.
Just watched it almost an hour of a 12 hour shift,huge respect to those in the control room and those out on the streets.
Hope whoever is the health secretary this week watches it, and doesnt try to privatise the ambulance service, it needs to be free to all.
Back on now.
Totally inappropriate, but if I ever fall down the stairs I want Maya to be first on scene.
Ultimate life-affirming public service programme.
The paramedic who cited her difficult childhood when she had to deal with chronic alcoholic who awoke memories was stunning.Reinforces that we are all human.
Drac tell your mates we thank them
She was lovely though but more importantly very professsional and compassionate.
I shall pass on your regards Jamie! 😆
Drac tell your mates we thank them
I will pass it on to my staff and others thanks.
The only thing keeping the NHS afloat are the amazing staff who live to help others. I’ve not watched much of this, but I don’t need to to know how amazing they all are.
I’ve had a few too many rides in the back of ambulances and a helicopter once; and every time the paramedics, nurses and doctors have been legendary.
puts it into perspective when we think we've had a busy shift or seen horrific things from time to time, you chaps are doing this constantly with little or no breaks.
hats off to you chaps drac, youre definitely the hardest working emergency service IMHO.
Hero's.
Essential viewing.
Having lost my big brother to Alcohol, that was a tough watch.
All emergency services do their bit Sadex I know I take the piss out of the Fire Service but they provide an amazing service thankfully a one that they aren't called on too often but that's a blessing. Police do an amazing job too they are very protective of ambulance staff if we end up in a threatening situation the uphold the zero tolerance and will now allow any form abuse towards us.
Must have been extremely difficult for you to watch Lowey, it's a horrible illness. I think they covered it well but sadly too many will just see him as a piss head with comprehension of the what he suffer or how he got there.
aye drac, tis true, police are also spot on, we have a good working relationship with all the services where we are, its really friendly. always pleased to see you boys on scene tho, especially at RTCs.
aye, agreed with alcoholism. back in the day id also have been one of the ones shouting out about being a waste of space, drain on the services etc, but doing this job has definitely made me think about the causes a lot more, its just so sad.
im seeing a lot on social media in the last couple of days bout the legal high addicts in our city, pics of kids sprawled out in the city centre. think there must have been a new article by the daily mail or somethings :-/
its sad to read the hateful comments. both my lads were in that state a few years back but luckily squared themselves up, i just feel so sorry for the families that are still going through it all right now.
That time again.
Awesome series. Just been watching it with Mrs Danny. Don't know how you guys do it.
Mrs Danny is a nurse and even she said she couldn't go full paramedic.
I have to say I am really enjoying this series, really well made and shows what great job they do. Hats off to all.
I have to admit that most weeks listening/watching certain calls it has brought a lump to my throat as it brings back some memories.
It’s a extremely rewarding job helping others in a dire need is something quite special. Sadly I struggle to do it at times, I’ve seen so many things that humans aren’t meant to see. It’s had an efffect on me and at times I’m not in a good place.
Wouldn’t have it any other way though when I can look back at those that I have helped. Had many a laugh with some great companionship over the years and still do, humour is great with colleagues some of it very dark.
Awwww! Lily.
Awesome series with some really great moments.
A bit difficult to watch for me now as I lost my dad (a week after) in an accident 11 months ago. All the emergency services were involved and every one of the people involved at the scene showed genuine interest and went out of their way to find out what the outcome was after the event.
As sad an outcome as it was, it was heartwarming to see the compassion.
Hospital ward staff however, did not fair well at all - but that's another story.
Lol, just noticed a nice tweet from smudge (#ambulance) of this parish being displayed on the WMAS staff only intranet home page, as it's been retweeted by official WMAS. Weird to see work and STW interaction; Normally separate spheres. Anyway, thanks for your appreciation smudge, but really, it's just a job.
Edit; reread that; not 'lolling' at the tweet; it was evidently heartfelt; just at the weird doubletake I just did.
I have really enjoyed the series and it has been a real eye opener.
I think it was last nights episode where they sent 3 ambulances and a doctor car to a hoax call and that cost £1500. I know it was a serious case but there was only 1 person involved so I was questioning the need to send 3 ambulances. Surely 1 and the doctor car would have been sufficient?
It was also interesting to see that sometimes there just aren't any ambulances to send. We always presume that if we ring 999 then somebody will be there in minutes.
Anyone watch last nights episode? Would be really interested in a layperson (or IT bods 😉 ) points of view re the frequent flyers, esp the male one. Tough jobs, for completely different reasons than possibly anticipated by the general public.
Yeah that was a very interesting episode to show the pressures of poor social care has on ambulance trusts.
Hooli,
For cardiac arrests it’s a 2 vehicle resposnse as it sounded a traumatic cardiac arrest they also sent a Dr as they have more skills. The Dr and the cardiac arrest Paramedic work as a team preparing equipment, using skills and drugs normal Paramedics cant’ so their time is spent doing that. The other crews concentrate on the advanced life support.
In my trust, cardiac arrests get 3 resources, so Ambulance plus 2 cars as minimum, 4 people are needed to perform advanced life support effectively. It is a bid demand on resource, but it's very rare to get that level of response to a hoax (which thankfully are pretty unusual around here).
Not sure if you seen it Tom but the vial hoaxer rang in for a 15 year old hanging from a lamp post so they sent maximum resources.
Thanks for the info, that makes the shortages of ambulances at busy times even more worrying if several are needed for some cases.
Something I have often wondered, how often do the call operators have to tell people to get in the car or call a taxi?
We obviously don't see everything on telly but there have been a few cases where (in my opinion) the person really didn't need an ambulance and could have got themselves down to A&E relatively easily.
Something I have often wondered, how often do the call operators have to tell people to get in the car or call a taxi?
That can sometimes happen with 111 calls, with 999 calls involves a clinician being made aware of the call. Figues I’m not sure to give you an accurate idea as that involves accessing my work email and I’m on holiday.
When the crew arrive they can also look at referring to them to use their own transport or taxi.
There is some new ambulance response standards starting at the end of next month which may help relieve some of the pressure.
Cheers Drac. Don't worry about figures, was just curios.
We are moving more and more to "hear and treat" where no physical resources are sent, when appropriate for people to self care, see gp, or make their own way to hospital. Our clinicians also have a range of options which would include self care, primary care referral, asking folks to transport themselves, or booking a contract taxi for them.
Genuine question following last nights episode....would it not be more cost effective to employ some non-clinical staff who drive around in a van to assist the crews?
I've been watching this series avidly and a recurring theme seems to be multiple crews and ambulances called to incidents to assist with the manhandling of patients in awkward situations or the transport of non emergency patients.
We have exactly that a clinician and an assistant, it’s extremely rare that we’d have a dual paramedic crew. I not sure why they have 2 qualified staff on.
We also have crews with none clinical staff on for those cases you describe PP and to help transport those that need no interventions.
What impressed (and to an extent surprised) me last night was how caring and supportive everyone was for the "frequent fliers" - I would have expected more exasperation, or even anger.
There was a bit of me that wondered how much that might have been influenced by the presence of a film crew, but it seemed as though what we saw was the norm, given the reactions of the "patients".
I was thinking more about when one crew attends and they can't lift or move a patient like the lady with hoist or the guy a couple of weeks back with the dislocated knee and the narrow staircase.
They then summon another fully equipped ambulance with two more trained medics when what they really need are a pair of burly porters.
A secondary support crew who assist with the logistical problems rather than the clinical problems.
Sorry PP I edited my post as I missed that bit.
Edlong as a general rule staff are very understanding and caring but at times they can become frustrated and it can come out as anger.
So Leon was sectioned then assessed as having capacity. Should it therefore not follow that he also has the capacity to understand that he will not get a blue light response to his frequent calls, even if there is a risk that one day he has a genuine medical emergency that is missed?
Yes, that can happen but it is very lengthy and slow process that can lead to a court order even jail.
Kinda what happens already, as you can see, WMAS held onto his call for hours and eventually only sent a resource when police were available. The problem is;...understand that he will not get a blue light response to his frequent calls, even if there is a risk that one day he has a genuine medical emergency that is missed?
Who owns that risk? A common sense approach would suggest he does, but legally; if an ambulance service were to refuse to attend and serious harm or death cane about as a result, I’m pretty sure they’d be answering some difficult questions.if there is a risk that one day he has a genuine medical emergency that is missed?
This kind of thing has been tried, and it doesn’t work out as cost effective. You’ve still got to equip staff and fuel the vehicle, the only saving is the (slightly; we’re hardly expensive) lower cost of wages for non clinicians. You then have to keep them utilised for the whole shift. The very specific jobs that they would be useful for come in all over the region, at any time, sometimes four or more at once, sometimes none for hours, sometimes hours of travelling time between them. You would have clinical staff waiting far ages for the humperdumpers to arrive. A double crewed paramedic ambulance is the most versatile resource; it can go to any job, convey anything, and if one can’t do it, two almost certainly can. And there’s lots of them. Better to equip them to manage (pretty much) anything.I was thinking more about when one crew attends and they can't lift or move a patient like the lady with hoist or the guy a couple of weeks back with the dislocated knee and the narrow staircase.
They then summon another fully equipped ambulance with two more trained medics when what they really need are a pair of burly porters.
A secondary support crew who assist with the logistical problems rather than the clinical problems.
You’re joking right?
It's almost half the cost for an ECA to a Paramedic, only takes 12 weeks to train an ECA add to that using your current Paramedic staffing being able to cover twice as many vehicles. It's a huge cost reduction.
It certainly can, and trust me, there is work ongoing. However, I certainly don’t want to be the one up in front of a clever barrister answering the question; <cynical hat> “So, Mr V8ninety, just why DID you refuse to help my black, disabled, socially isolated and so obviously at risk client when he was self evidently crying out for help?” </cynical hat>It can be done.
I’m not arguing against skill mix, I’m pointing out that non clinical lifting crews don’t work. (The ECA thing is a separate issue)You’re joking right?
WMAS don't routinely put out lots of double paramedics. Y’know, telly n’stuff.
Or just call out the fire service because if you believe the spin we're sat about doing nothing, we'll roll up with no training in handling patients and get stuck in.
The powers that be now want us to go out and prop up old buddies that have fallen over without any medical training or medical equipment should it be required. They view that they have just fallen over and can't get back on their own two feet, no medical condition has caused this.......
Not in my patch thanks, Bruneep, you keep your hose pipes and we’ll keep our bandages. 😉 We’re managing just fine. Plus there’s only a few of you compared to us; you’d barely make a scratch on our work load! 😛
I’m not arguing against skill mix, I’m pointing out that non clinical lifting crews don’t work. (The ECA thing is a separate issue)
Ah right I got confused when you were talking abut double paramedic crews being beneficial but they do for similar reason the cost are far less and not every patient requires a Paramedic to transport them to hospital.
Falls aren’t dealt with by your buddies in our area Bruneep as that goes against the care bundles for falls.
Ah, I see. By 'double crewed paramedic ambulance', I meant a DCA with a para on, not two paras. Double para crews are an expensive luxury, but good for morale (and telly, apparently). We Don't have ECAs in WMAS any more. Just student Paras/techs.Ah right I got confused when you were talking abut double paramedic crews being beneficial
Oh! I did wonder about the TV thing.
Interesting about the ECAs.
that goes against the care bundles for falls
What is this? Looking for sticks to hit the management with.
Last one tonight.
Watching now, massive respect as always.
That was some episode. Poor Jo was seriously effected by that job.
Yep, truly moving stuff. Utmost respect.
Well last night’s was was brilliant but hugely emopitnal, I found it extremely tough to watch as it reminded me of a recent event that happened to me. Fantastic TV though simply showing just how tough it is mentally for staff to the job they do.
I also found it a very tough watch (it felt overly voyeuristic, I hope/assume that permission to broadcast was sought/given after the events, and not just before).
Heros you lot, heros.
I hope/assume that permission to broadcast was sought/given after the events, and not just before
It’s both I’ve had to give permission a few times.
Drac, are you in this series then?
No, it’s a different service I may pop up on another TV programme though.
No, it’s a different service I may pop up on another TV programme though
Funspongebob Squarepants? 😉
Well, TV or not, a big thanks to all of you, you do an amazing thing.
Funspongebob Squarepants? 😉
😂👍🏼
Cheers Houndlegs.
I do hope those dogs were ok in the end.
I’ve got to admit, the show makes me cringe slightly. I’m always amazed that they manage to obtain consent from the patients involved; feels like a huge invasion of privacy.
I’m a little uncomfortable with the degree to which the staff allow their souls to be bared too; I know some regret their portrayal in the last series. Their choice I suppose.