I don't know who wrote this on the NHS Careers website, but I think they got their information from “The Ladybird book of ambulance drivers”.
Under the supervision of a paramedic, they carry out essential emergency care, such as controlling severe bleeding, treating wounds and fractures, and looking after patients with possible spinal injuries. They use electric shock therapy to resuscitate patients with heart failure and are trained to give a range of drugs.
Two things – we don't need the 'supervision of paramedics', there are a lot of double technician crews out there. The 'supervision' that we get from having someone not medically trained on the other end of the radio justifies why the government pays us so little. As a FRU solo responder I didn't even have another technician 'supervising' me.
Secondly – if I start using 'Electric shock therapy' on patients with heart failure I suspect that I'd end up in prison. 'Electric shock therapy' is not defibrillation (the closest thing would be the ECT using in treating mental health problems). Neither is 'heart failure' a cardiac arrest – they are two entirely different things.
If you can't even get the job description right, then what else are you getting wrong? Would it have been so difficult to get someone who actually knows the job to write something? Or would that be too honest to recruit people?
“70% of the people you go to will not require an ambulance. Many people who are younger and fitter than yourself will want to be carried down stairs. You will be dealing with members of the public – many of whom will be drunk. The government will expect you to reach jobs in under eight minutes, despite the driving conditions. You may be required to deal with dead animals. Expect to have someone take a swing at you once in a while”.
It is a very English description though, as the weather is mentioned twice…
It's up to you to decide whether I posted this job description as a humourous aside, or as a point that there are a lot of people in the NHS/government who haven't a clue what we do…
(Tip of the hat to the person who posted this on the BWTS forum).
I think it must be said that there isn't a job description in the land that reflects what it is actually like doing a job. The very nature of them means the wording is designed to entice any prospective applicants in with what most people think Ambulance Technicians do, even if that does turn out to be a *big* white lie.Then again, our present Government is so deluded, it wouldn't surprise me if they actually did think thats what you do with your day.
that and drink tea obviously…..
The EMD description is about as good! Apparently only senior call takers will have to give instructions over the phone (presumably newbies just hang up leaving the patients to die) and we will be instructing callers to do CPR on anyone who is unconscious. We will also be using switchboards, translating and giving telephone advice, thus putting British Telecom, Language Line and NHS Direct out of a job.
Oh, obviously 🙂
not to mention trying to navigate round idiots who won't move out of your way?
By the sound of it seems like the NHS' Human Resource dept has had a new intake and let 'em edit their own sections of the NHS website 🙂