Paramedic stress: "We"re micro-managed by people checking response times"

Peter (not his real name) has been a paramedic with an NHS regional ambulance service in the south of England for almost 20 years. He took two months’ sick leave because of stress in 2015.

I once turned up at a house where a woman and her daughter were crying hysterically because her husband – a man in his 30s – had passed away from a heart attack. And then the couple’s son came home from school to find his dad lying there and his mum and sister in that state. It was awful. I ended up crying with the family while we waited an hour for the police to arrive.

You do become emotionally involved. You end up putting things like that, which you have witnessed or dealt with, into a filing cabinet in your head, but over the course of a career that filing cabinet fills up.

Paramedics get stressed for many reasons and the dramatically increased demands on NHS ambulance services in the last four or five years have only made that worse.

The job can be stressful and upsetting anyway, given you’re treating an injury or illness or dealing with someone who might die. You’ve got to treat the patient, and deal with anxious relatives. That’s all very tiring and pressurising and very stressful.

And we’re under growing stress because there are too few paramedics to deal properly with the number of people calling 999 and then being sent an ambulance. We’re busy all the time. The response times we’re meant to stick to are a big part of that.

The bosses transfer the pressure they’re under to meet those performance targets on to us. We’re micro-managed by people who spend all day looking at computer screens, checking how response times are going.

We’re supposed to answer Red 1 and Red 2 calls – the most urgent ones – within eight minutes. But the reality of an understaffed service that hasn’t invested in more staff to keep up with growing demand means that that can take 20-30 minutes.

My ambulance service covers a rural part of the country. I’ve ended up driving 50-60 miles to respond to an urgent call, because there was no one else nearer to attend. Driving all that way at high speed, with a blue light on, is very stressful, believe me.

Then there’s the hours. We’re meant to work 12-hour shifts. But it’s never just 12 hours; it’s usually 13, 14 or 15. And we do four shifts in a row. The closure of ambulance stations is a massive issue too. Traditionally paramedics have seen them as almost their homes and the other people working there as like their family, but closures mean we have fewer and fewer of such places that we can come back to and discuss the ups and downs of the day with people who understand.

Stress is very common, especially among those who’ve been on the job for 15-20 years; their coping mechanisms aren’t as fresh as among the younger paramedics. Four of the 30 paramedics at my ambulance station have been off with stress over the last few years. They just couldn’t face coming in for another run of 14- or 15-hour shifts.

I’ve had time off myself for that reason. Two years ago I needed almost two months off because I was so stressed from the demands of the job. The pressure on me had become unreasonable. My stress was quite severe and I’ve never fully recovered, to be honest. My family say it’s really aged me. It’s taken a massive toll.

I’ve seen colleagues with 30 years in the service suddenly decide that they can’t do the job any longer because they can’t cope with all the different demands on us. I’ve got to the point where I don’t want to put my green uniform on any more.

Paramedic stress: "We"re micro-managed by people checking response times"

Woman died after paramedic told her to take paracetamol for chest pains

An ambulance service has apologised for the death of a woman after a paramedic told her to take paracetamol for chest pains.

Carol Wilson’s husband, Peter, called 111 on New Year’s Day in 2015 after she had been suffering from chest pains for a few days, as well as severe throat and ear pain, and pain on breathing.

The 111 service sent a paramedic to the couple’s Sheffield home at about 7am but, rather than giving her a heart scan or taking her to hospital, they said she should take paracetamol.

Wilson, 70, who had three sons, died in her sleep two days later as the result of a heart condition.

Medical negligence lawyers at Irwin Mitchell investigated her treatment and found the paramedic had failed to carry out an ECG scan, which would have identified abnormalities that needed hospital treatment.

Lawyers argued that if Wilson had been admitted to hospital, it is likely that pericarditis – a swelling of the fluid-filled sac surrounding the heart that causes chest and breathing pain – would have been picked up and treated.

Yorkshire ambulance service trust has admitted that, on the balance of probabilities, Wilson’s death could have been prevented if she had been given an ECG and sent to hospital by the paramedic.

Peter Wilson, 72, a retired HR director, said: “Since those three days at the start of 2015, my life has been turned upside down. We’d been married for over 40 years and I don’t think I will ever truly get over Carol’s death and I’m still devastated thinking about it now.

“Carol was an active, healthy woman who practised yoga on a daily basis, walked regularly and ate healthily. Her sudden illness was just such a shock.

“Nothing can turn back the clock, but I just hope that the trust will learn the importance of investigating chest pain in the future.

“Carol was devoted to her family. She was proud of her sons and adored her young grandchildren, who she thought she would see progress at school and beyond. She was cruelly denied that opportunity.”

Hayley Smith, a medical negligence lawyer at Irwin Mitchell in Sheffield, representing Mr Wilson, said: “Peter was understandably distraught at his wife’s unexpected death and wanted answers about what happened to her.

“One minute he was being told to get paracetamol and just two days later, his wife had died during her sleep.

“After our investigation the NHS trust has admitted its mistakes and apologised for the substandard care provided. Although paramedics do a difficult job and have to make split-second decisions, the symptoms and medical history in this case clearly show that more should have been done to diagnose Carol’s chest pain.

“Patient safety should be the number one priority of the NHS and Peter hopes that lessons will now be learned from this tragic incident to reduce the risk of other families suffering in similar circumstances.”

Steve Page, executive director of quality, governance and performance assurance at the ambulance service, said: “First and foremost our thoughts are with Carol Wilson’s family following their sad loss.

“We would like to apologise for the standard of care that was provided to Mrs Wilson on 1st January 2015. The assessment carried out by a member of our staff was not reflective of the high-quality clinical care provided by the trust and actions have been taken as a result of this incident to prevent such an occurrence in the future.

“We would like to reassure members of the public that we take very seriously any concerns that are raised by patients and their relatives and we are committed to being open and honest with them.”

Woman died after paramedic told her to take paracetamol for chest pains

Paramedic left heart assault victim to die 4 many years right after failing to spot toddler"s fatal injury

The North West Ambulance Services paramedic only assessed the toddler for 15 minutes and explained he did not want urgent hospital treatment.

Even so for the duration of the evening, the toddler misplaced consciousness and died with a 56-gram blood clot soon after Orme failed to advise the toddler’s parents to check out on their son at normal intervals for the duration of the evening.

The paramedic then had to go before the Wellness Professions Council (HPC) in 2010 and obtained a four-yr caution but was permitted to proceed treating individuals.

The panel ruled he was not responsible for the toddler’s death.

In the situation of Mrs Davies, Orme made a decision to quit as a paramedic and prevented a 2nd disciplinary hearing by removing himself from the register of approved health-related pros.

Orme admitted to a series of failings prior to the Tuesday’s hearing and wrote to the HPC panel asking to be struck off the register.

The allegations which Orme admitted to in the course of his employment incorporate failing to supply adequate care, failing to enquire about Mrs Davies’s past health care history and leaving her with junior workers despite her essential issue.

He also admitted to failing to perform an ECG, which can aid detect issues with heart fee or heart rhythm, as nicely as failing to travel with the patient to hospital.

The paramedic admitted to leaving the scene ahead of the ambulance went to the hospital and failing to give an adequate handover to the attending crew.

Orme has agreed not to apply to be readmitted to the HCPC register.

HCPC panel chairman Helen Carter explained a full hearing was not in the public interest, and would danger upsetting family members of Mrs Davies.

Ms Carter said: “The balance falls in favour of permitting the voluntary removal, especially as there is an unequivocal admission of the allegations and it will be known that Mr Orme will no longer be on the paramedic part of the HCPC register and will no longer be ready to practise as a paramedic.”

She extra elements of the hearing would have been limited to go over Orme’s overall health troubles.

A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service said: “We provide our sincere condolences to the households of the sufferers concerned in these incidents and value that occasions such as this hearing must be a challenging time for them.

“In line with Trust policies and procedures, the workers member and his carry out was entirely investigated, resulting in the elimination of paramedic standing inside of the Trust and referral to the HPC. We will take into account the suggestions and outcomes from the hearing.”

Paramedic left heart assault victim to die 4 many years right after failing to spot toddler"s fatal injury

Paramedic admits he gave up on CPR as well early on girl who died right after asthma attack

Around thirty minutes later, Bella collapsed and her mom right away referred to as 999, and paramedics attended the handle eight minutes right after the get in touch with.

Mr McKenna was initial on the scene and carried out CPR for roughly ten minutes just before concluding that practically nothing else could be accomplished to conserve the youngster.

But the inquest heard that it was protocol for paramedics treating a kid to carry on with existence support until finally the level when the youngster is brought to hospital.

Giving proof in court yesterday (Weds), Mr McKenna stated that when he arrived at three.13am Bella was “pale, with blue lips and unresponsive” but he started to execute fundamental life help and asked a police officer to do chest compressions on Bella.

He mentioned: “There was practically nothing a lot more we could do. I carried on with CPR but quickly knew there was not going to be a response.

“Simply because of her age, I now know it is protocol that she ought to have been transferred to hospital but I was beneath the impression that because of her age she would be classed as an grownup – she wasn’t a little one.”

He added: “Bella must have been transferred to hospital but I do not believe it would have made considerably difference since of the tests I carried out.”

But the court heard that Mr McKenna had received a wonderful deal of coaching and ought to have known which process to adhere to.

Two superior technicians, who arrived minutes soon after Mr McKenna, described their “shock” and “shock” that Mr McKenna had given up on CPR so quickly.

Stephen Harrison, who arrived at Bella’s home minutes right after Mr McKenna, stated: “I felt some thing was amiss but there was practically nothing I could do about it.”

Asked if he had been told that CPR had been performed for close to 10 minutes Mr Harrison said: “I would have stated ‘let me carry on with CPR’.”

Colleague Dawn Vacation stated: “I was really shocked, it wasn’t what we had been expecting to see when we arrived.

“We full anticipated CPR to be in method when we arrived. I left the ambulance operating on the street and I total expected there would be a youngster there to get to hospital.”

Paramedic admits he gave up on CPR as well early on girl who died right after asthma attack