Day 4 and 5 of volunteering with the Ambulance service
The end of my week long spell with the Ambulance service has shown me just how the Trust is adapting and becoming more flexible in it’s approach to working with other life saving services and innovating in order to reach patients more quickly.
On Thursday I was lucky enough to be present at the launch of one of the new combined services where paramedics are teaming up with the fire service to attend cardiac arrests. This collaborative approach is being run out of one of North Norfolk’s own manned fire stations and I was at Sheringham just after the new system went live.
It was then onto Wells to meet the cycle paramedic team and a short ride into Wells to see how the cycle team support the ambulances in one of our busiest coastal areas, and where historically the distance to our hospitals causes our response times to be particularly slow. The cycle teams have been an invaluable addition and proved life saving countless times. I was amazed at the weight of the bikes, laden with full kit. Put it like this you would not want to cycle up hill for very long!
My final day was an invaluable visit to the call handling centre in Hellesdon. These guys are often the forgotten heroes of the ambulance service, dealing with the front end of incoming distresses from the public.
They typically take 8,000 calls a month dealing with some truly harrowing situations. I was able to meet call handlers, listen to live calls and sit with the logistical team routing the ambulances and coordinating vehicles based on priority. There are some really exciting initiatives going on with trying to streamline and improve efficiencies so paramedics attend the most life threatening calls and those not in need of an ambulance and perhaps needing primary care are routed appropriately.
This week has been most invaluable and informative for me in gaining experience. I have learnt so much about the service and the complex set of challenges our ambulance service deals with on a day to day level. It will enable me to be equipped with far better knowledge and experience in order to go back to Parliament and speak confidently about the issues our paramedics face.
I will be following up with my experiences to the Chief Executive and Health Ministers. It remains for me to thank each and everyone of the team members for all their support, enthusiasm and willingness to talk to me. Every single person I met was passionate and loved their role. The willingness to get through the recent challenges and deliver for the people they care for is a testament to the heroes our paramedics are. My sincere thanks.
