Ambulance Service Assesment

[orangeknight]

HI all,

So I've got an assessment day coming up for ECA/Emergency Care Support Worker/A&E Support - depends which ambulance service you apply to as to what the role is called, but they are all the same. Just wondered if anyone had done one and what the literacy/numeracy tests entail? Im quite happy with the highway code. Also, it says there is a fitness test, any ideas what level you have to get to on the bleep test??

cheers,
O.K

[croggers]

I'm sure on the application, there was some notes about the process. I can remember reading about the fitness requirements. Didn't detail it fully, but gave an idea. What area would you be looking at?

[Ruskie]

Which service?

Just to Pre warn you it's a crap role and the pay is a bit skinny for the shift work/emotional stress.

We have some new ones who are absolute mongs and only interested in driving as opposed to patient welfare and care.

[orangeknight]

Yep,i know about the role and pay. But if its a job you want to do, then those things don't matter. and the pay is better than I'm on now and its less hours than i do now.

Edited by orangeknight on Sunday 12th May 23:04

[Ruskie]

orangeknight said:

Yep,i know about the role and pay. But if its a job you want to do, then those things don't matter. and the pay is better than I'm on now and its less hours than i do now.

Edited by orangeknight on Sunday 12th May 23:04

Good stuff. The job is brilliant and very rewarding. If I can answer any questions you have just send me a PM.

They are just sorting a program out for ECA to Paramedic but it's going to be a long haul over 5 years I think!

[Medic-one]

What trust have you applied to Orange ?

We've had loads of eca's come out over the years, and it seems there are still new ones coming out every day so i could ask one of them, depending on which trust you joined.

Good luck and have fun in your new role.

And feel free to ask things, as much as you want, even if you think you might know how/why something is done, why not ask to be sure. I've worked with some really nice eca's who were eager to learn, and i've worked with a few who pretended to know everything allready. The later ones aren't very popular at all...

[orangeknight]

Thanks for the replies guys, I've applied to South East Coast. Just waiting for a date for assessment day.

[mph1977]

Ruskie said:

<snip>

We have some new ones who are absolute mongs and only interested in driving as opposed to patient welfare and care.

which is what lay management want , rather than people who will agitate for band 4 as AP or 'ordinary' Tech then then egged by the dinosaur tech union reps agitate for T-W-A-T status and then start wanting Health Professional money while keeping their teflon coating ...

they (lay management) also don;t want people who will want either
a)seconding to para training on current pay or app U
b) who leave to do para training as soon as they can get into uni and then join another 'sexier' service when they graduate having barely covered their D2 costs and having had their highest risk period as a D2 driver on the first service's tick...

then there are the ECAs and APs who leave the NHS for promises of 'EMT' status with private services or a A+E work with SJA as a subbie to the NHS ( on better money than an ECA but worse pension and with the illusion of autonomy as they aren;t bag monkey to a para) or as part of critical care transfer contract where they can big themselves up because occasionally they get to touch a central line but primarily their role is the drive the team car ( sadly the current team cars (vito crew cabs) on the SJA contracts are not as glam as the originals - V70s and XC90s) or the 'Critical Care Ambulance' ...

Edited by mph1977 on Monday 13th May 15:32

[Ruskie]

mph1977 said:

which is what lay management want , rather than people who will agitate for band 4 as AP or 'ordinary' then then egged by the dinosaur tech union reps agitate for tt status and then start wanting Health Professional money while keeping their teflon coating ...

they (lay management) also don;t want people who will want either
a)seconding to para training on current pay or app U
b) who leave to do para training as soon as they can get into uni and then join another 'sexier' service when they graduate having barely covered their D2 costs and having had their highest risk period as a D2 driver on the first service's tick...

then there are the ECAs and APs who leave the NHS for promises of 'EMT' status with private services or a A+E work with SJA as a subbie to the NHS ( on better money than an ECA but worse pension and with the illusion of autonomy as they aren;t bag monkey to a para) or as part of critical care transfer contract where they can big themselves up because occasionally they get to touch a central line but primarily their role is the drive the team car ( sadly the current team cars (vito crew cabs) on the SJA contracts are not as glam as the originals - V70s and XC90s) or the 'Critical Care Ambulance' ...

Do you currently work on the road?

[mph1977]

Ruskie said:

mph1977 said:

which is what lay management want , rather than people who will agitate for band 4 as AP or 'ordinary' then then egged by the dinosaur tech union reps agitate for tt status and then start wanting Health Professional money while keeping their teflon coating ...

they (lay management) also don;t want people who will want either
a)seconding to para training on current pay or app U
b) who leave to do para training as soon as they can get into uni and then join another 'sexier' service when they graduate having barely covered their D2 costs and having had their highest risk period as a D2 driver on the first service's tick...

then there are the ECAs and APs who leave the NHS for promises of 'EMT' status with private services or a A+E work with SJA as a subbie to the NHS ( on better money than an ECA but worse pension and with the illusion of autonomy as they aren;t bag monkey to a para) or as part of critical care transfer contract where they can big themselves up because occasionally they get to touch a central line but primarily their role is the drive the team car ( sadly the current team cars (vito crew cabs) on the SJA contracts are not as glam as the originals - V70s and XC90s) or the 'Critical Care Ambulance' ...

Do you currently work on the road?

not currently working in healthcare but have a lot of NHS Acute sector and Voluntary ambulance experience

[mph1977]

Ruskie said:

<snip>

They are just sorting a program out for ECA to Paramedic but it's going to be a long haul over 5 years I think!

like the old 'trainee paramedic' contracts which were really Direct Entry tech with the opportunity to get rid of people they didn;t want by enforcing the progression clause but not offering them a para course i doubt many if any will get it , and many more will get fed up of waiting apply through UCAS and have to do their para ticket on bursary and bank shifts ( like many HCAs, PT and OT assistants have had to despite the promises of their employers over progression)

[croggers]

orangeknight said:

Thanks for the replies guys, I've applied to South East Coast. Just waiting for a date for assessment day.

Likewise, I'm waiting on the assessment date. Be good to get this weekend, but wonder when the extra date will be.

[Sir Fergie]

mph1977 said:

Ruskie said:

<snip>

They are just sorting a program out for ECA to Paramedic but it's going to be a long haul over 5 years I think!

like the old 'trainee paramedic' contracts which were really Direct Entry tech with the opportunity to get rid of people they didn;t want by enforcing the progression clause but not offering them a para course i doubt many if any will get it , and many more will get fed up of waiting apply through UCAS and have to do their para ticket on bursary and bank shifts ( like many HCAs, PT and OT assistants have had to despite the promises of their employers over progression)

And then you will have a big manager in an office wondering why their new fangled plan for "staff development and training" isn't working in 5 years time . They will be scratching their heads wondering where it all went wrong.

Yet it went wrong because they didn't give the staff the training and development the staff were promised when they started the job. Not exactly a recipe for a happy and content work force .

Orange Knight - best of luck with your future ambulance service career.

Sir Fergie

[joeg]

Sorry to hijack this read, just wondered if any one has any experience of the tech trainee programme in Scotland? I'm starting in September, its payed for and hopefully should lead to paramedic in two years!

[Ruskie]

mph1977 said:

not currently working in healthcare but have a lot of NHS Acute sector and Voluntary ambulance experience

Right so you have never worked for the NHS frontline?

[mph1977]

Ruskie said:

mph1977 said:

not currently working in healthcare but have a lot of NHS Acute sector and Voluntary ambulance experience

Right so you have never worked for the NHS frontline?

i have done hundreds ( if not more) of hours of NHS frontline work managed by NHS EOCs just as a contractor (paid) or part of the Reserve (volunteer) .

I have worked in NHS acute care and have been through AfC banding as a 'none matching' job and subsequent appeaks

[Ruskie]

mph1977 said:

i have done hundreds ( if not more) of hours of NHS frontline work managed by NHS EOCs just as a contractor (paid) or part of the Reserve (volunteer) .

I have worked in NHS acute care and have been through AfC banding as a 'none matching' job and subsequent appeaks

So you have worked for a private company contracted to work for the NHS?

[mph1977]

Ruskie said:

mph1977 said:

i have done hundreds ( if not more) of hours of NHS frontline work managed by NHS EOCs just as a contractor (paid) or part of the Reserve (volunteer) .

I have worked in NHS acute care and have been through AfC banding as a 'none matching' job and subsequent appeaks

So you have worked for a private company contracted to work for the NHS?

No, just the operator of the largest fleet of ambulances in the UK and the defined Reserve to the NHS ambulance service, although i suppose as company limited by guarantee they could count as a 'private company'

[Ruskie]

mph1977 said:

No, just the operator of the largest fleet of ambulances in the UK and the defined Reserve to the NHS ambulance service, although i suppose as company limited by guarantee they could count as a 'private company'

Interesting. I am vehemently against the use of private ambulance services for front line work. My experience is a bad one and I see it as back door privatization. My trust has just released the figures for private ambulance use in the last 3 years. The figures are alarming. The standard of care has to and does suffer and there are other issues surrounding the use of the word technician. As its not a protected title anyone with a 2 day first aid course can then be classed as a 'technician'.

[mph1977]

Ruskie said:

mph1977 said:

No, just the operator of the largest fleet of ambulances in the UK and the defined Reserve to the NHS ambulance service, although i suppose as company limited by guarantee they could count as a 'private company'

Interesting. I am vehemently against the use of private ambulance services for front line work. My experience is a bad one and I see it as back door privatization. My trust has just released the figures for private ambulance use in the last 3 years. The figures are alarming. The standard of care has to and does suffer and there are other issues surrounding the use of the word technician. As its not a protected title anyone with a 2 day first aid course can then be classed as a 'technician'.

the irony in some cases has been NHS ambulance managers who are also members of SJA or BRC have hampered SJA or BRC in taking on work to support the NHS

such as the senior NHS ambulance manager who despite only having done the 'vicars and tarts' emergency driving course ( as he was from a EOC background) claimed it would be 'impossible' and 'highly dangerous' for anyone who wasn't full time on the road staff to drive on blues ( even though he did on an irregular basis for his core work and drove a 'very high performance' Doctor's car ) ...

Ironically consciousness over the issue of 'what constitutes a tech' has also hampered SJA because despite the hundreds of hours of learning in the staged process from joining to becoming an 'emergency transport attendant' ( and the final 3 -4 weeks of training being mainly conducted by paras, techs and other health professionals) it's made clear that an ETA is NOT a tech ...

it's also worthwhile to point out that only a fraction of SJA members are crew qualified and the majority are 'first aiders' or 'advanced first aider' - also SJA's cycle responders are AFAs as a minimum not crew ( unlike the NHS cycle responders who are at least Techs if not paras, but there are SJA cycle responders who are crew or Health professionals - i'm aware of at least 2 Anaesthetic Registrar cycle responders in SJA)

- meanwhile walter mitty can do a 5 course on top of a FAW taught by any random tosser and slap on the 'EMT' or 'technician' badges. the old 'closed shop' IHCD contract didn'tt as seven if you sent someone on the full iHCd course taught by NHS trainers in an NHS training school with other students beign NHS trainees they couldn't actually get the IHCD certificate - that has now changed but perhaps too little too late

we'll carefully avoid saying too much about the way in which some in BRC have represented the IHCD certificate in 'First Aid with Extended Skills for BRC Ambulance Crew'

If the ETA course is delivered correctly the principle differences between an ETA and a newly qualified tech ( pre Millar's magic number) are a smaller drug box, can't use a manual defib , not allowed to do Blood glucometry ... and given that at various times pre NHS ambulance mergers there have been techs with small drug boxes (SYAS) , not allowed to use manual defibs (Avon before they got LP12s) or do glucometry ( ?Hants)

The blood glucometry thing could be easily resolved ( there have been a number of trials supported by local NHS trusts) and the manual defib thing is a cost issue to some degree ( vs techs learning manual defib in the NHS because back in the day manual defibs were purchased for early paramedics and then purchased to put one on each ambulance ) and the drug stuff is down to some odd interpretations of the law on schedule 7s ( adrenaline 1:1000, glucagon etc) or the fact that there are work arounds for salbutamol etc.

Edited by mph1977 on Wednesday 15th May 12:54