Any Ambulance Service employees on here?

[bobjugs12]

Just wondering at the moment as I have some question for you

[annie0000]

Bit late, but my OH is in the Ambulance Service - what did you want to know?

[bobjugs12]

Just had some questions about the roles of Ambulance Techs in the NHS

[annie0000]

Patient transport or emergency service?

[boxtops]

Bobs I'm sure you have seen this, but just in case...
http://www.nhscareers...s/Default.aspx?Id=906

[annie0000]

my oh works in patient transport - he loves it but the service themselves is a bit of who's face fits and who has been there the longest etc. and the money is sh!te.

[annie0000]

get quite a few ex service or ex police in there. one of his colleagues was a technician in the RAF. good route into training for a paramedic if that's what you are interested in, but they are shoving a lot of the driving jobs down to the patient transport guys as that is cheaper and then they will drive a Paramedic so that the emergency ambulance guys who are not paramedics are getting squeezed.

[bobjugs12]

Emergency annie.
I'm starting the IHCD Ambulance Tech course next month, and have been offered a job (dependant on passing) with a private company.
I've done a lot of research and the qual is legit, and the company is big and well known so I'm not to concerned about that side of things. I wouldn't mind going into the NHS at a later date though.
I'd read that the NHS had stopped recruiting Techs, but are looking at restarting this soon. I just wondered if there was any truth in this

Cheers

[boxtops]

bobjugs there are a few jobs on advert here, this tends to be our first port of call as all NHS jobs get advertised here (I don't work for AS but I am in the NHS):
http://www.jobs.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/advsearch

[boxtops]

Sorry that link is rubbish, it's not what I clicked - if you put "Ambulance" in the search box, 4 vacancies come up.

[bobjugs12]

I've had a look thanks box. Cheers for those links

[annie0000]

possibly true bob - as I say, they will use the patient transport guys as drivers teamed with a paramedic - emergency technicians cost more and if there is a patient in the back, the paramedic has to stay with them so effecively the technician does most of the driving. patient transport guys are trained in first aid, but not much more as they are not expected to deal with emergencies. Up here there are quite a few private ambulance co's - usually staffed by ex NHS staff. not sure if starting in private how easy it would be to transfer - the training is quite long - 4 years? and consists of a lot of driver training as well as the medical stuff, you would need to pass all their own tests as well I think. I guess you are a fairly young guy, so if you were sufficiently interested, I would say that trying to get your training as a paramedic would be the way to go - better pay and a better job. Only other comment i would make is that my Oh says that the "green suits" i.e. the emergency guys always look knackered - I think it is a combination of the shift and the sitting around one minute and then expecting to be firing on all cylinders the next. If he was youngermy hubby would probably have done it - he is already a trained nurse - now he is happy - he does constant days, deals with mainly elderly patients which he loves and despite the pay, has job satisfaction.

[bobjugs12]

The company does do NHS cover as well for both Patient Transport and 999 calls and part of the training is my Blue Light Licence.
I'm looking forward to getting my green suit though lol

[annie0000]

my husband is a "blue suit" when his group at training all got theirs, a lot of them went straight outside in them and into the supermarkets and shops etc so that everyone would see them in their suit! very cute! he always takes the shirt off in the hope no-one recognises it is an ambulance uniform. One christmas I had to take my kids with me on my Christmas nite out (don't ask!) anyway, he was to come and pick them up from the restaurant so that I could enjoy the rest of the night - he was a little late and the party was starting to get into full swing when he turned up. Most of my colleagues had never met him, and a whole group of women were getting really excited when he walked in in uniform as they thought he was a stripper - I think it put him off wearing it outside.

[bobjugs12]

Lol, awesome