Are you mentally ready for the reality of making an ambulance your everyday office? Is it your hope to end every shift without second guessing your actions or inactions? Do you want to follow the crowd, or create your own professional approach with intent? Becoming a newly qualified paramedic or EMT is like a juggling act. With hands and minds full of ambition, fresh ideas, hard earned expertise and newly acquired knowledge, it can be challenging to maintain the high standards that you’re desperate to deliver. Even the best of intentions will be difficult to deploy, without recognising what's important, or why. This book is your guide to growing good habits, so that little of the bad and even less of the ugly can creep in along the way. While training and education deal with the standalone skills, minimal time remains to devote to the biggest learning curve of all. Putting everything together into one professional, compassionate and satisfying package. If you’re looking for checklists to tick, flick and forget, this is not the book for you. But if you prefer to craft an individual brand of outstanding emergency care with intent, everything you need is right here. Nothing clinical will be covered. No tips or tricks on specific techniques. It's all about attitude to the human-centered skills that will set you up for success, ready to hit the ground running. A self-development style handbook, for students at any stage of preparation for a prehospital career. - Work on ways to bring out your best, so you provide nothing less than you would expect for your loved ones. - Think through the things that may prove inwardly challenging, before they arise in reality. - Fine tune your focus and create proactive plans to avoid unnecessary incidents or unwanted events. - Design a mindset that matches your moral compass, and satisfies those who depend on your dedication. Through its friendly, conversational and easy to follow format, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Paramedic Student Handbook puts you firmly in the driving seat of your own destiny toward the job of your dreams. As an author with over a decade of experience in paramedic practice, precepting and teaching, Tammie Bullard is passionate about supporting newcomers, on their path toward prehospital care. This handbook is designed to give every reader the insight and incentive to bring out their best in every aspect of EMS. Book #1 in the GBU Paramedic series, written by a paramedic, specifically for prehospital care providers at every level.

Are you still the paramedic that you hoped to be on your first day in an ambulance? Do you find yourself questioning any action or inaction at the end of some shifts? Would your patient care be good enough for your own family in their time of need? In the current climate of increasing prehospital demand, it is more important than ever for paramedics to demonstrate optimum skill, safety and professionalism. With growing call volume, public scrutiny, legal liability and employer expectation often creating a sense of overwhelm, the ability to maintain these standards can begin to suffer. Find out how to evaluate your everyday practice using a simple, pain scale type approach. Remain at the top of your game, no matter where you’re at in your career. Using a friendly, conversational and inclusive format, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Paramedic is an easy to follow book. Designed to be picked up, put down and picked back up again whenever and wherever, no matter how time poor you may be. - Ignite your spark, rekindle your passion or maintain existing pride in paramedicine - Sharpen your professional approach to patient care, safety & public perception - Avoid unwanted incidents, disciplinary issues & confusion in this stressful role - Enhance your reputation, mutual respect and enjoyment of prehospital care Book #2 in the GBU Paramedic series, written by a paramedic, specifically for prehospital care providers at every level. A relatable, scenario-based guide to growing the good, breaking the bad and undoing the ugly in all of us.

Leadership is a vital part of delivering high quality healthcare for all healthcare professionals. With the introduction of the NHS Leadership Academy, Leadership Framework and the Competency Framework there has never been a better time for paramedics to hone their leadership skills and expertise. This is the first book of its kind to demonstrate just how vital leadership skills are for all paramedics and explore how paramedics can lead in their everyday practice. Divided into two parts the book looks at both the context of contemporary leadership for paramedic practice and then the specific skills of leadership. The book includes chapters on: What is leadership and who does it? Communication skills & leadership Working as a team Decision making Conflict resolution Mentorship and preceptorship Each chapter includes case studies, examples and quotes from real life paramedic practice to show what good leadership looks like in everyday clinical settings. The book also features profiles of real paramedics that demonstrate the role that leadership plays for all practitioners from novice student paramedics through to specialist paramedic practitioners. Essential reading for student paramedics and practitioners alike. Contributors: Kevin Barrett, Amanda Y Blaber, Graham Harris, Paul Jones, Linda Nelson, Mel Newton, Caryll Overy, Marion Richardson, Paul Street and Surinder Walia. "The notion of Leadership within the United Kingdom's (UK) National Health Service (NHS) has without question been one which continues to draw debate amongst policy makers, executive officers, service users, professional bodies and regulators. This book explores the many paradigms in which the notion of Leadership plays an ever increasing role in the lives of healthcare professionals. Its interaction with summaries of leadership ideologies, along with the questions posed by the authors, allow students to delve into the role of leadership, illustrating the various ways in which strong leadership helps shape and improve patient/client outcomes. The book explores the many paradigms in which the notion of Leadership plays an ever increasing role in the lives of healthcare professionals. This publication is not only an essential read for student paramedics, but other healthcare students embarking upon a career within the healthcare setting. Along with student paramedics, this book will assist experienced paramedics and those responsible for educating and mentoring paramedic students. Drawing on a vast range of experience and knowledge from a number of contributors to the book, the text provides insightful and illuminating ideas and suggestions as to how the notion of Leadership helps practitioners develop their own knowledge and skills as they progress through their career to become registered healthcare professionals. I strongly recommend this book to those starting their careers as healthcare professionals." John DonaghyJohn Donaghy BSc (Hons), PgCert, FHEA, FCPara.Principal Lecturer & Professional Lead - Paramedic Science, University of Hertfordshire, UK.

Experience the rush as an emergency medic details some of the most formative calls of his career in the Big Easy in this action-packed memoir. Known as one of America’s most dangerous cities, New Orleans plays host to incidents ranging from the tragic and disturbing to the completely bizarre—and during his career as an emergency medic, Jon McCarthy saw it all. He chronicles some of the most formative calls of his career in this autobiography that reads like crime fiction. McCarthy demonstrates with detail and clarity that the difficult choice is often the right choice. While not for the faint of heart, each entry in this collection provides poignant insight into the bonds between medics and the people and city they serve. Praise for Hard Roll “One of the things Jon McCarthy does so well in this book is capture that combination of adrenaline, dark humor, and old-fashioned heroism that makes up the daily life of a first responder.” —Susan Larson, NPR’s The Reading Life “Masterfully describes the exhilaration of touching a patient at their most vulnerable moment and the emotional toll it takes when the outcome is not favorable and the sheer joy when medical experience meets the opportunity to make a difference . . . A must-read as one tries to grasp the social inequities, fragility of the war on crime, and paucity of basic healthcare that plagues our urban communities.” —Juliette M. Saussy, FACEP, former director and medical director of the New Orleans EMS, former paramedic, City of New Orleans

Where does your patient care sit on the good, bad and ugly scale? How can you prevent your standards from slipping over time? Want to maintain a positive approach for longevity in your role? Any career in healthcare can become challenging and exhausting under the pressure of long shifts, repetition, expanding caseloads and high demand. Without regular reflection to refresh enthusiasm in caring for others, gradual disconnect and burnout become inevitable. Maintaining a motivated and compassionate outlook is as essential to providers as it is to patients in shaping meaningful and rewarding interaction. Reflective Rhymes for Patient Care is crammed full of pocket-sized reflections for doctors, nurses, paramedics, EMTs, midwives, mental health professionals, allied health services, educators and support staff. - Ideal graduation gift for those new to healthcare - Vital questions to provoke self-motivated accountability - Perfect conversation starters for group based discussion - Useful prompts in continued professional development A collection of fifty-two thought provoking paragraphs, one for each week of the year, to trigger a positive perspective on empathy, safety and satisfaction in any hands-on healthcare role. Book #3 in the GBU Paramedic series, written by a paramedic, specifically for patient care providers at every level.

The ability to communicate well is the single most important skill for a paramedic. But, despite an emphasis on communication in paramedicine assessment and standards, there has never been a resource specifically tailored to the unique environments in which paramedics practise.This new book fills that gap. Communication in Paramedic Practice is designed as a primer on the importance for paramedics of communicating well, and how to achieve this in real life. It encourages self-reflection on your own communication style, and covers important considerations such as listening, managing distress, being culturally responsive and non-verbal communication.Written by experts in this field, and full of relevant examples and opportunities to practise, this book will help you communicate comfortably and confidently for better patient outcomes, increased workplace safety and more efficient transfer of information - Four sections cover the significance of interpersonal communication, developing self-awareness, managing realities of communication as a paramedic and scenarios for practice - Promotes self-reflection on your personal communication style and habits - Introduces the strategies and skills you need for real life - Encourages the development of confidence through activities, scenarios and case studies - Wide range of examples to reflect paramedic practice - Relevant resources for ongoing development and improvement of communication skillsStudent resources on Evolve: - Answers to end-of-chapter review questions - Student quizStudent and instructor resources on Evolve: - Semester planner - Student quiz – multiple choice questions - Tutorial activities - Student quiz – true / false - PowerPoint slides

An alluring mix of humor, bravery, cynicism, and compassion." --London Daily Telegraph It's the stuff of Grey's Anatomy, House, and ER--only these events aren't unfolding on a Hollywood soundstage. Have you ever wondered what's going on inside the ambulance screaming past you during your rush-hour commute? Since 2003, Tom Reynolds (writing under an alias so as not to get sacked from his job), has kept a blog where he chronicles the day-in, day-out realities of his life on the job as an EMT with the London Ambulance Service. By turns both poignant and profound, Reynolds's writing captures the very essence of life and death. From the mundane to the surreal, from the heartwarming to the cynical, from the calm to the frenetic, more than 300 entries from his popular blog at randomreality.blogware.com are included in the book. Dear Mr. Alcoholic: Would you mind awfully not swearing at me, taking a swing at me, or exposing yourself to me? I have quite enough abuse from the nondrunks out there. . . . Still, at least your fists are easy to dodge, and if I stop holding you up, you fall over. The author's hugely popular blog, Random Acts of Reality, has been named Medgadget Best Medical Blog and Best Literary Medical Blog.