Today we’re going to focus on the world of Paramedics and how they treat patients at one of DHU Healthcare’s Urgent Treatment Centres.
When you think of a Paramedic, your first thought may be as part of an ambulance crew. In reality a Paramedic is a registered professional working across a range of settings across health, education, military and many other environments.
We spoke to Rachel Hodgett who is a DHU Healthcare Paramedic working at Loughborough Urgent Treatment Centre. Her story perfectly illustrates the range of knowledge, skills and experience a Paramedic has…
“I’m ex-military, having spent nine years in the RAF as an Imagery Intelligence Analyst. Whilst doing that, I volunteered as a military co-responder with the Ambulance Service in my spare time so, when I decided on a change, the RAF funded me to do a Paramedic qualification and I’ve never looked back.
First on the scene
“It was a three-year, full-time degree at the University of Greenwich and I worked with London Ambulance Service. I felt like I was doing something extremely worthwhile when I was volunteering. This continued in my training, there’s something about being the first on scene, making that initial assessment and providing treatment to someone.
“I’d be there to help treat and assess acutely unwell patients such as heart attacks, complications of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), traumatic injuries and the like. In many ways it’s a seamless progression from the RAF. You have to be calm under pressure and make difficult decisions during intense situations, something I had to do regularly when I was deployed to Afghanistan. The transferable skills are there.
“I then became a Paramedic within Prison settings in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire that was another challenge entirely. With the Ambulance Service we never really knew where we would go or who we would treat for what; at the prisons we had a fairly static group of people of whom we had medical histories for but a different set of health challenges. I would respond to acute illnesses, injuries relating to self-harm, assaults, drug use and mental health problems. It was fascinating and very intense, involving a different skillset in terms of training and approach to the job.
The variety of work
“It was at the end of May 2022 when I joined DHU as a Clinical Practitioner and what attracted me was the variety of work and development opportunities. Loughborough Urgent Treatment Centre is my base now but, in a similar way to when I was an Ambulance Paramedic, I don’t know who or what will come through the door at any moment.
“But there’s more to it for me and I’m receiving additional training, for example, x-ray and blood interpretation which you don’t experience on the road and additional treatment pathways to put the patient on and there’s a chance for me to become a non-medical prescriber which is my next goal.
“I’m very fortunate to have worked in the RAF, ambulance service, within prisons, and DHU, the latter three as a Paramedic, with so much variety. Each career choice has led to the next one and there’s always something new, even within a chosen profession. There’s nothing routine about being a Paramedic in any situation, we save and change lives; there’s so much to learn and I’m delighted to be able to develop, learn and discover more about how to treat and care for our patients.”
Publish date: 26 July 2022