r/ParamedicsUK

Bear with me, please.

I've been a tech for well over 10 years and am in my final year of Uni.

I have an idea for my dissertation, but it may well involve a change of practice, and I don't know if I can do that within the scope of the essay (limited to 7500 words, etc).

It's an aspect of ambulance life that I want to improve, but don't know if I should just reel my expectations in, and do something less obtrusive.

Just to specify I'm (sadly) not clinical staff, I'm just a SCAS call handler but I've noticed that the level of abuse we're getting via 999 seems to be building as the year progresses.

I've almost finished my second year as a call taker and I've noticed we're definitely getting a lot more verbal abuse and physical threats down the line vs what I saw in 2024 and 2025. It definitely started picking up around late 2025, but its so much worse now.

Myself and my colleagues are constantly having people threaten to get us fired, using racial slurs, generally being abusive or even making graphic threats.

I know its not as bad for us since we're not dealing with these people in person, but the level of vitriol from the public is starting to get very draining.

Some of these incidents have been taken to the police because of what happened but obviously nothing came of it.

I'm wondering if maybe it's just us or country wide, part of me think that channel 4 documentary may have had some influence on this.

Has anyone else noticed a rise in either abuse or just negative interactions with the public recently?

Hey guys! I am currently studying a law degree that I have no interest in and would love to train as a paramedic. However, the recruitment freezes and lack of positions is putting me off a bit so I'd love to hear more from people and their experience. What other careers can arise from a degree in paramedicine? Would it be recommended in this job market? Anything surprising to expect from a paramedicine degree? Thanks so much!

I recently did a post regarding a situation with my student.

The comments had tons of mixed responses which really got me thinking and I bought this topic up with some fellow paramedics at my station. We discussed the idea of having a student and how friendly you can be with them.

My favourite mentor back in the days was a lovely fella. Super friendly, asked about my family and friends and was involved in my interests. We were close in age, just a couple years apart, so discussed music and TV shows. I had a great relationship with him and meant I felt comfortable enough to be “vulnerable” - to do things wrong and not worry about being judged. I was also happy to ask questions and etc.

Some of my others weren’t the same. We would sit the shifts in literal silence because they would rather shit themselves than have a convo with me.

I guess I remember my favourite guy and try to do that with the many students I have. Ask about their interests, how they are finding uni, how they are. With my recent student going through a shit situation (which she is arguably exposed to in healthcare), we had a convo about how she’s been feeling. I had a student 2 years back whose mum died and we spent a lot of the shifts discussing it, many of which were in tears. She gave me a lovely card when she left to be a qualified paramedic.

My station is also a social friendly one, the students are invited to our away days and social activities

A colleague of mine (CTM, been working in the industry for 20 years) said she was talking to her mentee about their relationships

Another said (just finished NQP2) he spends the whole time discussing anime

Another said he just lets the tech talk to them he stays silent

So it’s for me wondering, what do you do with your student (apart from obvious clinical work) e.g. during downtime, when truck breaks down, lunchtime, etc?

What do you think is a step too far? Would never want to cross a boundary but realise that these boundaries are quite vague in this day and age. In a career like paramedicine, it’s hard to objectively separate life and work. We are exposed to all sorts, both good and bad and some close to our heart.

Teaching and mentoring is important to me but so is my career and registration. Never want to jeopardise it. I’ve been working for quite a long time and have never had professionalism questioned by any of the students I have ever had (or patients). No one else in my station has either.

I have recently applied and been successful in obtaining a trainee advanced paramedic role within my service.

This will be the second cohort of trainees in this role, the 1st cohort have just finished their first year of uni and will be starting their prescribing in September AFAIK.

I have had numerous conversations with the first cohort, and they all seem to be very disillusioned with the role already.

At present they do a mix of shifts both RRV and Clinical hub shifts (for remote triage).

From what they say, they don't bring too much to the table just rather than a more indepth assessment and maybe higher risk threshold compared to other paras in the service

I have tried to get an expected scope of practice but this is still very vague and don't actually give any details whatsoever.

I suppose my questions are:
What does a typical day look like for the paramedic practitioners outside of NI? I.e what should i expect as this role progresses

How do you get tasked to jobs, is there an AP in the control room - do they also triage calls in-between tasking? Do they have their own stack? or is it completed by a regular dispatcher

What calls do you frequently try to target? does your service have a policy on calls to be "auto dispatched to" / "need further assessment from AP" / "don't even think about sending these guys"

I think i have a million more questions any maybe some of the replies will help guide me somewhat.

Thanks guys

The Hazardous Area Response Team, or HART, is the part of the ambulance service that is designed to deliver paramedic level care in dangerous places, it's not a job I have a desire to do, not ever applied... However, with 15 years of being an NHS paramedic under my belt, I have yet to come across a job where they have been able to bring anything that another service can't do better. Examples include, attending a shooting (the police will be in the danger zone and no one will be giving any advanced care until either the pt is removed, likely by police, or the shooting has finished), cliff incidents (coastguard are fully able to retrieve a patient), fires, confined spaces, working at height, dangerous gasses ect ect, all rescued by fire. There is never really a need to deliver paramedic level care in an area of such high danger. In my experience with them, they have an incredibly overinflated view of themselves, not helped by programs such as "999 rescue squad". A plane crash I attended when I was alone on a car is another great example. I was sole medic for around 20mins, giving updates and providing care ect, HART arrive and tell me they have special intrinsically safe radios to use...by which time fire and myself and a crew have already extricated the PT and treating them, and myself, the police and fire have all been using our normal radios. They should be disbanded and placed back into "normal" operations.... Don't even get me started on SORT!

Hey guys, I’m curious from the paramedic perspective.
I’ve completed my clinical phase and nearing the end of my driving phase, then out operational.
So my question is what do you guys expect from green tech?.

I felt like the clinical side lacked in areas at some points But pretty solid 3rd manning shift although it’s quite easy to do what you’re comfortable doing than what’s expected on those shifts. Thoughts……

So I've recently been mentoring a 1st year student - she's at the end of her placement but I've only had her for 2 weeks. I was advised she had some health issues but it was suggested that I'd be more sympathetic to this than her previous mentor.

She's 100% capable from a clinical point of view, but I'm genuinely concerned about her ability to cope with this work. She's had a number of medical episodes whilst out on placement with me, she's fainted twice, had a moderate/severe asthma exacerbation requiring nebulisation, usually needs a rescue inhaler more then 4 times on a shift, and vomited more times than I can count.

She's clearly determined and still wants to do the job but for someone who vomits every time someone retches and is allergic to around 30 different things I'm seriously wondering how she would ever manage on a truck when qualified!

Do uni students go through some form of fit to practice before placement? Where do I stand with this?

I’m a first year student paramedic who really struggled this year. I’m think I’m good on placement but find it hard pestering to get things signed off and I’ve failed and had to redo 2 assignments. Everyone’s heard the rumours that second year is much harder so wondering what I can do over summer to prepare.

Hey!

A couple years ago I was struggling with some major mental health issues that caused me to drop out a science uni course. I'm now way more capable through therapy and medication, though I still consider myself disabled. When I was struggling, the paramedics who assisted me were absolute angels and rather an inspiration to me, and it's led me into considering it as a profession myself.

Obviously mental health is a significant concern for paramedics, but I feel very capable from what I've read and looked into. Plus, having gone through therapy, I know what coping strategies and systems work well for me when coping with distress. Although obviously there's no way of knowing for sure without lived experience, and I don't know if any companies would reject me outright in some manner.

I don't have any physical disabilities nor issues with decision making, reaction time, intelligence, or anything like that, though I do have obvious scarring which may be off-putting to patients.

Is it worth considering this as a career? Will I be rejected outright due to my past? Is there any adjacent careers I should consider instead?

Thank you in advance :)

Had a disagreement with the Mrs on this one so have come to Reddit

Have had a student for a while, almost for her full second year. Meant to switch but issues with staffing and uni communication issues meant she stayed longer. I haven’t complained as she’s lovely - super polite, tries hard, great at speaking to patients and their families, loves to ask questions. Genuinely a person interested in what she’s doing so very easy to teach. Also brings a bag of sweets or chocolate to every shift so no complaints from crew mates either.

We have gotten to know eachother quite well, e.g. from the classic “how has your week been” convo starter to more in-depth “where do you see yourself in 5 years”. At first she was quite timid but has really grown on me I think. Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed a change in her demeanour - lot more anxious, scared to get involved, etc. Asked about it, mentioned briefly she had a personal issue but had already spoken to uni about it, was sorting it out, etc. Nothing for me to do essentially, she had taken all the right steps. Did notice a little improvement but nothing like her past usual happy self.

My last round of shifts she was very tense. In front of patients she was great, skills performed great and very friendly and professional, but noticed as soon as she was back in the truck or in hospital, she almost shuts down. Noticed her crying at one point, and usually in lunch where we sit in the truck and eat, she would just sit on a bench nearby on the phone. Had a proper sit down with her at the end of shift and said she’s going through some tough shit in personal life, with some specific details, such has been affecting her mental health. She’s also weaning off nicotine which she says has been a really big addiction in the last year and recently started a new SSRI which is affecting her with a lot. All in all sounds really tough. Problem is she’s taken the relevant steps of speaking to her advisor, going to the GP plus summer is soon so she’ll have a break then. So as a paramedic mentor, I know she’s done what she needs to do. As a person, I want to help more?

I was a similar age to her when a situation like hers happened. She’s going through a rough patch and so I did have an hour long conversation with her, agreed we can take the next shifts easier. Said if she ever felt overwhelmed on shift she can let me know and we could chat. I did message a day after to check in and see if she was okay. My wife thought I was crossing a boundary messaging? Said it was unprofessional?

Unsure tbh. Feel if I was in my students position, would have appreciated a mentor who cared about me more that my student paramedic title. She’s going through a rough patch and I am treating her like I am treating a colleague. Wife says she isn’t a colleague but a student.

Anyone have any advice for how to deal with this? Generally really hardworking so upset to see how depressed she’s become towards the career when she would make a great HCP. How would you help a student going through a rough patch?

Haven’t spoken to anyone in my station about this as I sing want to break confidentiality/she spoke to me privately hence why I’ve come here

Had a job yesterday where the patient was completely calm and cooperative, but their adult children were shouting, filming us on their phones, and demanding we put the blue lights on for a minor issue. How do you deal with high-stress families without losing your cool?

Been some real in interesting discussion lately about some student matters and as per (not necessarily in a bad way) it’s interesting how practices and perspectives differ across the country. Got me thinking about what the current picture is like around training and formal education for practice educators so: if you’re a practice educator for pre-reg paramedic trainees then what level of training for it do you have?

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For me, it is the rigid box-ticking around immobilisation for minor mechanisms, or having to go through a massive checklist for someone who clearly just needs a simple referral

UK student paramedics — what do you wish you had more support with?

I’m a UK paramedic, ACP and clinical educator, and I’m trying to understand what students are finding hardest at the moment.

Is it:

• OSCEs?
• Assignments?
• Placement confidence?
• Clinical reasoning?
• Pathophysiology?
• Drug calculations?
• Feedback from mentors?
• Knowing what “good” looks like?

Not advertising anything here — genuinely interested in what would be most useful from a student support/education perspective.

Struggling to find a decent backpack that works to carry uniform , steph, lunch ect.. that I can wear on days I cycle to work.

Hi I’m an external student paramedic so am always in the 3 man crew. Does anyone have any advice about securing water in the back? I drink too much to keep it in the cupboard but not enough to just hold onto it. Not a massive problem but a nuisance I guess 😂We need cup holders!!!!

Alot of critical incidents have popped up, but I havent really noticed my service doing anything different?

Have yours done anything to get more staff in? Clear out the bs jobs? I remember LAS getting rid of alot of MH calls during covid for instance.

Hey all,

When I was younger I got diagnosed with an aggressive cancer, and the treatment has caused me to have hearing issues, and being very short / light ( 4'11, 40kg), but, it's made me want to help other people.

I'm currently in Year 10, and going over my career options - while on paper I can become a paramedic, I don't think I physically could handle it, although I do really wish I could.

What is the most physically demanding parts of the job?

I've seen it mentioned as a high paying option compared to trust work but I genuinely don't know much about the day to day reality of it. The rotational schedule sounds like it could suit some people and not others. If you've done it or are doing it now I'd like to hear what it's actually like beyond the headline pay figure?