Ask a Paramedic anything at all...
Discussion
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Inspired by other threads, of which I have enjoyed the insight, so I thought I might do the same. Ask within reason though, obviously 
and we're seriously constrained by patient confidentiality too, so some answers might be a bit vague. I won't be entertaining 'flippancy' or gore hunters, by the way 
Oh, and I work ridiculously long hours on shift work too, so the replies might take a while haha!
We're definitely having the most challenging winter I have ever seen so far too, it must be said. I'm proud of my Trust, the NHS and my colleagues, and what they've all managed to achieve in light of such adversity so far.
How long are you qualified now? I remember chatting to you just as you started training. and we're seriously constrained by patient confidentiality too, so some answers might be a bit vague. I won't be entertaining 'flippancy' or gore hunters, by the way Oh, and I work ridiculously long hours on shift work too, so the replies might take a while haha!
We're definitely having the most challenging winter I have ever seen so far too, it must be said. I'm proud of my Trust, the NHS and my colleagues, and what they've all managed to achieve in light of such adversity so far.
A while ago a Paramedic called a radio station and was giving insights to the job.
One of which was dealing with drunks and said its been know to swap wedding rings on to the other hand, or leave clothing behind.. for when the other half comes to collect them.
Have you do this?
One of which was dealing with drunks and said its been know to swap wedding rings on to the other hand, or leave clothing behind.. for when the other half comes to collect them.
Have you do this?
Edited by djfaulkner on Sunday 7th January 19:23
djfaulkner said:
A while ago a Paramedic called a radio station and was giving insights to the job.
One of which was dealing with drunks and said its been know to swap wedding rings on to the other hand, or leave clothing behind.. for when the other half comes to collect them.
Have you do this?
What on earth for?One of which was dealing with drunks and said its been know to swap wedding rings on to the other hand, or leave clothing behind.. for when the other half comes to collect them.
Have you do this?
In your experience do think mental health issues are reaching epidemic proportions or do you think it’s now more talked about and was always an issue?
As a shift manager I have noticed massive increases in mental health sickness in the last 10 years.
My current girlfriend,her son,my ex wife,best friends x 2 all suffer from anxiety or depression or both. I struggle to understand it sometimes but I see what it does to my nearest and dearest and it hurts.
As a shift manager I have noticed massive increases in mental health sickness in the last 10 years.
My current girlfriend,her son,my ex wife,best friends x 2 all suffer from anxiety or depression or both. I struggle to understand it sometimes but I see what it does to my nearest and dearest and it hurts.
Thing is, "mental health" is such a broad term.
The full-on voices-in-their-head Jesus-told-me-to-do-it cases have always been there, and are relatively straight forward to treat in the emergency care setting...."Get in the ambulance then. We'll go and see Jesus"
What I believe is on the increase is the awareness of conditions like anxiety and depression, leading to far more cases being reported, identified and diagnosed.
I'm also a firm believer that society as a whole has made itself more fragile in recent times.
Loss of genuine social networks, higher lifestyle expectations, money, peer pressure, overpopulation, poor housing, crap diet, questionable parenting and more are making life a real challenge for far more people.
That's not to say individuals are more fragile, and nor are their cases any less genuine, but I feel the public focus on recent large scale events, and I'm talking right back to the decade that Health and Safety forgot....the 1980s, lead to a culture where saying "No really, I'm ok" is seen as a weakness/denial where admitting to a mental health issue used to be.
Add to that the compensation culture and, sadly, genuine mental health cases are getting lost in a sea of complete nonsense from people who can see an easy, ambiguous option to get time off work and/or more money.
Post-Grenfell I went to lady who was attempting to claim the full assistance package. She wasn't in the Tower, never had been, didn't know anyone who was.
On the night of the fire her cat got scared by all the fire engines and ran off. No one in authority wants the job of telling her to get a life as that's seen as hurtful, old fashioned and callous. In contrast, my only other post-GT case was a man who collapsed in the street having visited the site for the first time (four months) after the fire which claimed six friends or family (Inc two pre-school children)) and who were, at that time, unaccounted for but presumed to still be in the building.
Both mental health. Both entitled to treatment.
The full-on voices-in-their-head Jesus-told-me-to-do-it cases have always been there, and are relatively straight forward to treat in the emergency care setting...."Get in the ambulance then. We'll go and see Jesus"
What I believe is on the increase is the awareness of conditions like anxiety and depression, leading to far more cases being reported, identified and diagnosed.
I'm also a firm believer that society as a whole has made itself more fragile in recent times.
Loss of genuine social networks, higher lifestyle expectations, money, peer pressure, overpopulation, poor housing, crap diet, questionable parenting and more are making life a real challenge for far more people.
That's not to say individuals are more fragile, and nor are their cases any less genuine, but I feel the public focus on recent large scale events, and I'm talking right back to the decade that Health and Safety forgot....the 1980s, lead to a culture where saying "No really, I'm ok" is seen as a weakness/denial where admitting to a mental health issue used to be.
Add to that the compensation culture and, sadly, genuine mental health cases are getting lost in a sea of complete nonsense from people who can see an easy, ambiguous option to get time off work and/or more money.
Post-Grenfell I went to lady who was attempting to claim the full assistance package. She wasn't in the Tower, never had been, didn't know anyone who was.
On the night of the fire her cat got scared by all the fire engines and ran off. No one in authority wants the job of telling her to get a life as that's seen as hurtful, old fashioned and callous. In contrast, my only other post-GT case was a man who collapsed in the street having visited the site for the first time (four months) after the fire which claimed six friends or family (Inc two pre-school children)) and who were, at that time, unaccounted for but presumed to still be in the building.
Both mental health. Both entitled to treatment.
Fattyfat said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Inspired by other threads, of which I have enjoyed the insight, so I thought I might do the same. Ask within reason though, obviously and we're seriously constrained by patient confidentiality too, so some answers might be a bit vague. I won't be entertaining 'flippancy' or gore hunters, by the way
Oh, and I work ridiculously long hours on shift work too, so the replies might take a while haha!
We're definitely having the most challenging winter I have ever seen so far too, it must be said. I'm proud of my Trust, the NHS and my colleagues, and what they've all managed to achieve in light of such adversity so far.
How long are you qualified now? I remember chatting to you just as you started training. and we're seriously constrained by patient confidentiality too, so some answers might be a bit vague. I won't be entertaining 'flippancy' or gore hunters, by the way Oh, and I work ridiculously long hours on shift work too, so the replies might take a while haha!
We're definitely having the most challenging winter I have ever seen so far too, it must be said. I'm proud of my Trust, the NHS and my colleagues, and what they've all managed to achieve in light of such adversity so far.
thanks for posting! I qualified in August 2015, so it's been getting on for two and a half years. Still (mostly) enjoying it, but I have to say, this winter has tested me somewhat! Willy Nilly said:
Do people ever thank you?
Yes, all the time. As I said in an earlier post, one of the things that often helps us get through some difficult days, is the way that we're regarded so highly by most of the general public. I get genuine thanks from patients and their families on a day-to-day basis, which is lovely. Better still, many of them take the time to write to my Trust with a formal thank-you, and I'm pleased to say that the Trust forwards on a copy of every letter and email like this, with a covering thank-you letter from senior management.
Then I often get just random people coming up to me in public and saying something like 'oh you guys were brilliant when I / my family needed you, thank you for everything that you do.' In fact I popped into a kebab shop on my way home from a shift the other day, and a man came in and stood next to me. He began telling me how much he was grateful for us, and shook my hand. After a while, I told him I should get out of his way as he wants to order a kebab, to which he replied 'oh I didn't come in to get a kebab, I just saw you when I was walking past outside and wanted to thank you...'
Brings a tear to the eye sometimes.
jet_noise said:
Do you have a protocol for an Addisons Disease patient in crisis?
No cheating, put the portable 'phone away!
Yes I have that rare condition
We do, although I have never come across a patient with it yet. We carry Hydrocortisone, and fluids if needed too. I understand that it can however flare-up to be pretty nasty, and even life threatening. So following that treatment it would then just be a case of pre-alerting the hospital and blue-lighting you in.No cheating, put the portable 'phone away!
Yes I have that rare condition
One thing I might note regarding some of these rarer conditions that ambulance staff rarely come across, is that I usually find that the patient is very well-versed and knowledgeable about their condition. In these cases I am happy to be guided by the patient and treat accordingly, within reason. So if the patient tells me that this / that helps them specifically, then I'll go with that.
Crossflow Kid said:
Thing is, "mental health" is such a broad term.
The full-on voices-in-their-head Jesus-told-me-to-do-it cases have always been there, and are relatively straight forward to treat in the emergency care setting...."Get in the ambulance then. We'll go and see Jesus"
What I believe is on the increase is the awareness of conditions like anxiety and depression, leading to far more cases being reported, identified and diagnosed.
I'm also a firm believer that society as a whole has made itself more fragile in recent times.
Loss of genuine social networks, higher lifestyle expectations, money, peer pressure, overpopulation, poor housing, crap diet, questionable parenting and more are making life a real challenge for far more people.
That's not to say individuals are more fragile, and nor are their cases any less genuine, but I feel the public focus on recent large scale events, and I'm talking right back to the decade that Health and Safety forgot....the 1980s, lead to a culture where saying "No really, I'm ok" is seen as a weakness/denial where admitting to a mental health issue used to be.
Add to that the compensation culture and, sadly, genuine mental health cases are getting lost in a sea of complete nonsense from people who can see an easy, ambiguous option to get time off work and/or more money.
Post-Grenfell I went to lady who was attempting to claim the full assistance package. She wasn't in the Tower, never had been, didn't know anyone who was.
On the night of the fire her cat got scared by all the fire engines and ran off. No one in authority wants the job of telling her to get a life as that's seen as hurtful, old fashioned and callous. In contrast, my only other post-GT case was a man who collapsed in the street having visited the site for the first time (four months) after the fire which claimed six friends or family (Inc two pre-school children)) and who were, at that time, unaccounted for but presumed to still be in the building.
Both mental health. Both entitled to treatment.
I'd agree with this 100%, well said. I might add, however ( and I'm not getting political, just stating facts as I see them) that there have been rafts of cuts to local mental health and social support services in the community over the last few years. Hence, especially out of normal hours, I am dispatched to a mental health crisis which might well have easily been attended to by more relevant services previously, but has escalated to the extent that an emergency ambulance is the only resource available.The full-on voices-in-their-head Jesus-told-me-to-do-it cases have always been there, and are relatively straight forward to treat in the emergency care setting...."Get in the ambulance then. We'll go and see Jesus"
What I believe is on the increase is the awareness of conditions like anxiety and depression, leading to far more cases being reported, identified and diagnosed.
I'm also a firm believer that society as a whole has made itself more fragile in recent times.
Loss of genuine social networks, higher lifestyle expectations, money, peer pressure, overpopulation, poor housing, crap diet, questionable parenting and more are making life a real challenge for far more people.
That's not to say individuals are more fragile, and nor are their cases any less genuine, but I feel the public focus on recent large scale events, and I'm talking right back to the decade that Health and Safety forgot....the 1980s, lead to a culture where saying "No really, I'm ok" is seen as a weakness/denial where admitting to a mental health issue used to be.
Add to that the compensation culture and, sadly, genuine mental health cases are getting lost in a sea of complete nonsense from people who can see an easy, ambiguous option to get time off work and/or more money.
Post-Grenfell I went to lady who was attempting to claim the full assistance package. She wasn't in the Tower, never had been, didn't know anyone who was.
On the night of the fire her cat got scared by all the fire engines and ran off. No one in authority wants the job of telling her to get a life as that's seen as hurtful, old fashioned and callous. In contrast, my only other post-GT case was a man who collapsed in the street having visited the site for the first time (four months) after the fire which claimed six friends or family (Inc two pre-school children)) and who were, at that time, unaccounted for but presumed to still be in the building.
Both mental health. Both entitled to treatment.
This is frustrating in many ways - chiefly because when I did my Paramedic training and degree, we had next to no training in supporting mental health patients - most of the focus was, understandably, on medical and trauma management. Secondly (and I don't mean this in a churlish manner) I am not personally THAT interested in dealing with mental health cases. By that I mean, of course I do everything I can when I am dispatched to such a case, but if I had wanted to be a mental health specialist, then I would have trained to do as such!
Lastly, as said, all we can do as an ambulance crew is use our communication skills and common sense, to have a discussion with the patient about what they want to do. If they are receptive to wanting to see a mental health specialist, then all we can do is transport them to A&E for an assessment. Which is not ideal because if it is out of hours then there is a good chance that they will just sit in A&E, taking up a bed space, sometimes until the next morning. I'll also add that many mental health patients have been drinking before our arrival, but the team in A&E won't even consider giving them an assessment until they're sober. So it might be 12 hours or more until they finally get proper help. Which is entirely inappropriate, as I am sure you'd agree.
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Then I often get just random people coming up to me in public and saying something like 'oh you guys were brilliant when I / my family needed you, thank you for everything that you do.'.
Indeed.Go in to Costa etc in London, order a coffee and quite often it comes back on the house.
Pret-a-Manger are the gold standard though.
My crewmate and I have in the past been given an entire breakfast plus extra to see us though lunch.
During the London Bridge incident last year, McDonalds provided free food and drinks all night long.
Crossflow Kid said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Then I often get just random people coming up to me in public and saying something like 'oh you guys were brilliant when I / my family needed you, thank you for everything that you do.'.
Indeed.Go in to Costa etc in London, order a coffee and quite often it comes back on the house.
Pret-a-Manger are the gold standard though.
My crewmate and I have in the past been given an entire breakfast plus extra to see us though lunch.
During the London Bridge incident last year, McDonalds provided free food and drinks all night long.
I'm not in the city like you, so I don't have a Pret nearby, and only one or two Maccers within my patch. That said, we have a small local Tesco and Co-Op in our ambo station's town, and the both send us a load of nice food and things every Christmas. Gratefully received!
smiffy180 said:
My partner reckons if I were to be in a position where I needed medical attention but was unable to move from the 3rd floor (where our bedroom is), the attending paramedics would be unable to take me out for the house due to my weight (25st) because of health and safety stopping them from doing so?
Is this true?
1. Lose weight. A lot of it.Is this true?
2. Move your bedroom to the ground floor.
3. Lose weight. Yes you can.
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Hi matey thanks for posting! I qualified in August 2015, so it's been getting on for two and a half years. Still (mostly) enjoying it, but I have to say, this winter has tested me somewhat!
It's tested us all I think. The past few months have been exceptional and contrary to what a lot of people think, it's been genuine cases rather than intoxication etc. thanks for posting! I qualified in August 2015, so it's been getting on for two and a half years. Still (mostly) enjoying it, but I have to say, this winter has tested me somewhat! Fattyfat said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Hi matey thanks for posting! I qualified in August 2015, so it's been getting on for two and a half years. Still (mostly) enjoying it, but I have to say, this winter has tested me somewhat!
It's tested us all I think. The past few months have been exceptional and contrary to what a lot of people think, it's been genuine cases rather than intoxication etc. thanks for posting! I qualified in August 2015, so it's been getting on for two and a half years. Still (mostly) enjoying it, but I have to say, this winter has tested me somewhat! Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
I'd agree with this 100%, well said. I might add, however ( and I'm not getting political, just stating facts as I see them) that there have been rafts of cuts to local mental health and social support services in the community over the last few years. Hence, especially out of normal hours, I am dispatched to a mental health crisis which might well have easily been attended to by more relevant services previously, but has escalated to the extent that an emergency ambulance is the only resource available.
This is frustrating in many ways - chiefly because when I did my Paramedic training and degree, we had next to no training in supporting mental health patients - most of the focus was, understandably, on medical and trauma management. Secondly (and I don't mean this in a churlish manner) I am not personally THAT interested in dealing with mental health cases. By that I mean, of course I do everything I can when I am dispatched to such a case, but if I had wanted to be a mental health specialist, then I would have trained to do as such!
Lastly, as said, all we can do as an ambulance crew is use our communication skills and common sense, to have a discussion with the patient about what they want to do. If they are receptive to wanting to see a mental health specialist, then all we can do is transport them to A&E for an assessment. Which is not ideal because if it is out of hours then there is a good chance that they will just sit in A&E, taking up a bed space, sometimes until the next morning. I'll also add that many mental health patients have been drinking before our arrival, but the team in A&E won't even consider giving them an assessment until they're sober. So it might be 12 hours or more until they finally get proper help. Which is entirely inappropriate, as I am sure you'd agree.
Thank you both for replying.This is frustrating in many ways - chiefly because when I did my Paramedic training and degree, we had next to no training in supporting mental health patients - most of the focus was, understandably, on medical and trauma management. Secondly (and I don't mean this in a churlish manner) I am not personally THAT interested in dealing with mental health cases. By that I mean, of course I do everything I can when I am dispatched to such a case, but if I had wanted to be a mental health specialist, then I would have trained to do as such!
Lastly, as said, all we can do as an ambulance crew is use our communication skills and common sense, to have a discussion with the patient about what they want to do. If they are receptive to wanting to see a mental health specialist, then all we can do is transport them to A&E for an assessment. Which is not ideal because if it is out of hours then there is a good chance that they will just sit in A&E, taking up a bed space, sometimes until the next morning. I'll also add that many mental health patients have been drinking before our arrival, but the team in A&E won't even consider giving them an assessment until they're sober. So it might be 12 hours or more until they finally get proper help. Which is entirely inappropriate, as I am sure you'd agree.
My own experience in seeing how it affects people and how it’s dealt with is mixed if I’m honest.
My partner had a really bad breakdown around March last year which resulted in me calling 101 for advice. They contacted the local crisis centre and said crisis would call me back within an hour.
They never called back.
She has never been referred for councilling by her GP,even when she asked for it. After that last episode I arranged for it and paid privately for it,every week.
This has helped her so much she has been able to ditch the meds which I’m really proud about.
I just wish it could have been done years ago.
But while I think she has been failed my friends have had happier stories of success in treatment which is great.
I think the NHS and all its employees do great work,so thank you for that,I’m just recounting personal experience and opinions
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