Paramedic Insight Podcast:

Did you know that paramedics can claim tax rebates for such items as uniform cleaning, professional registration and professional body membership? That includes making a claim for your membership of the College of Paramedics.

Clare Merrills, Head of PR, Press & Digital Communications at HMRC explains to Gary Strong how to set up an account and make a claim. Clare and Gary discuss what sort of claims can be made, the pros and cons of using an agent and the importance of claiming everything to which you are entitled.

Some information from HMRC:

Gary Strong talks to Krissie Stiles and David Wales about the ground breaking report Saving Lives is Not Enough: a casualty-centred proposal identifying how Fire and Rescue Services can improve pre-hospital care and quality of life outcomes for burn survivors.  

Gary Strong talks to Bo Escritt and Tracy Nicholls about what we can learn from the recent celebrations of Black History in order to address the challenges of diversity and representation in the paramedic profession.   2020 has brought a renewed understanding of the continued prevalence of racism and Covid 19 has shed a harsh light on contemporary health inequalities based on race.  How as a profession should we respond?

This podcast also gives the paramedic profession an opportunity to thank Malone Mukwende and the team at St George's University of London for freely sharing the Clinical Skills Handbook Mind the Gap, available at https://www.sgul.ac.uk/news/mind-the-gap-a-handbook-of-clinical-signs-on-black-and-brown-skin 

Gary Strong talks to Islam Faqir and Matondo Manzeninga about Black History Month and their experiences as non-white paramedics.  What are the barriers to inclusivity that exist within the culture of the paramedic profession?  How can we go about breaking these down and ensuring that our profession becomes more representative of the communities it serves?

Harriet Ashman talks to Gary Strong about the care of burn injured patients.  Burns can be life-changing for the patient.  These injuries are infrequently encountered by paramedics, yet the care given in the first period of time post injury can have a significant impact on injury prognosis.  How can we make sure that we are well prepared to act swiftly and appropriately when caring for burn injured patients?

Harriet has had a specialist interest in burns care since her undergraduate days.  This episode revisits and updates a conversation first recorded in 2018 when Harriet presented on the topic at the College of Paramedics National Conference.  It is released alongside a new e-learning module for paramedics written by Harriet, edited by specialist burns nurse Krissie Stiles and available at https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/paramedics 

Islam Faqir, chair of the College of Paramedics Diversity Steering Group, chats to Gary Strong about the importance of diversity in the paramedic profession and the vision for the group's work.  Against the backdrop of lockdown, Izzy and Gary consider the disproportionate impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on  non-white communities, people with disabilities and those who live in areas of economic deprivation, providing a paramedic's eye view of some of our public health challenges.

Recorded and originally released early in 2018, this discussion between Islam Faqir, Shirmilla Datta and Gary Strong considers why issues of diversity, equality and fairness in the workplace are so important for the paramedic profession to address.  Izzy and Shirmilla share some of their career experiences and discuss the problems associated with hidden discrimination and institutional bias.

Gary Strong talks to Michelle O’Keeffe about domestic violence.  How prevalent is it in society and how can paramedics recognise the signs?  What actions should be taken if we suspect our patient is a victim?  What impact has lockdown had upon the services caring for victims?

Gary Strong talks to Carol Robertson about the challenges of responding to the needs of persons living with frailty.  What exactly is frailty?  How can paramedics best recognise it and manage patients appropriately and with dignity?  What has been the impact of Covid-19?

Gary Strong chats to Alyesha Proctor about her role as a paramedic working in a GP practice.  What are the attractions of working in this environment, and what are the new challenges that paramedics face when they move from ambulance based practice to primary care?  How has practice changes during the Covid-19 response?

Gary Strong chats to Andy Swinburn about the ambulance service response to the challenges of ever increasing demand.  How can the Rotating Paramedic role enable services to offer the right care to all our patients?   How should we go about developing  highly skilled Advanced Paramedics for these exciting new roles?

PHEMCast is an prehospital emergency care podcast series created by Emergency Medicine Consultants Clare Bosanko and Tim Nutbeam.   In this shared podcast, Clare and Tim join Gary and Stephen to discuss the prehospital response to Covid-19 up to 1 May 2020.

Gary Strong chats to Andy Elwood about his journey with mental health.    What are the top tips for staying healthy, at a time of unease and anxiety for all emergency responders and healthcare workers?  

 Gary Strong and Stephen Moakes discuss options and considerations when managing minor injuries during the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Joint Regulatory Bodies Covid-19 statement advises that in these exceptional circumstances professionals may need to depart from established procedures in order to care for patients and people.  Is this an opportunity to think differently about the way we assess, manage and refer minor injuries sustained in the community?

Roger Alcock discusses with Ben Watts the importance of non-technical skills for providing excellent patient care.  A veteran of the 2014 UK response to the West Africa ebola crisis, Roger shares his experience of working in full PPE in the hot zone and subsequent experience as a patient in isolation and on the receiving end.  How can we communicate effectively with one another and our patients, when we are in full PPE?  What top tips will help us to improve practice during the pandemic?  This is a not-to-be-missed episode offering unique insights into current challenges.

Ben Watts, Mark Faulkner and Wayne Auton discuss the various ways in which Critical Care Paramedics work and the challenges and changes brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic.  How are Critical Care Paramedics deployed?  What has been the impact of Covid 19 on normal working practices? What lessons are being learned?  This is a timely and important discussion which offers helpful advice for all paramedics and ambulance staff working during the pandemic.

Ben Watts and Gary Strong discuss the importance of CPD and the challenges of doing CPD during the Covid 19 pandemic.  How on earth do we keep our CPD up to date when we are under so much pressure?  What learning opportunities are available right now?