On call with our incredible Paramedics

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend the afternoon on an ambulance with two highly trained paramedics working for the South-East Coast Ambulance Service. I met them at the ‘Make Ready’ centre in Tangmere, which is now the centralised location where ambulances are returned to and dispatched from before responding to emergency calls spanning a huge area, right into the South Downs National Park and along the coast. 

The opportunity to attend calls with the paramedics was an eye-opening experience that gave me a real appreciation for the care and compassion shown by our hard-working emergency services, but also for the pressures they face and how acutely those pressures are felt in rural areas. Not one minute had passed after one job had finished, once the paramedics had closed the case on their device, before another emergency call was flashing up on their screen. 

Our calls were all categorised as Category 2, which is the category that over two-thirds of their calls fall into. This can include suspected stroke and heart attack patients, and calls are expected to be answered within 30 minutes. Luckily, we were well placed to respond to our calls within that 30-minute timeframe, but had these been Category 1 calls, where there is an immediate threat to life, it is hard to comprehend how the ambulance service could have responded within the seven-minute national target while covering such a vast area. 

From mental health crises to end-of-life conversations with loved ones, and from navigating people’s pain to working with limited resources in the community, they really are doing amazing work. I’m so grateful to the two paramedics who put up with me in the ambulance, asking lots of questions! 

Jess with South-East Coast Ambulance Service