Ambulance
The ambulance service is not just about responding to a 999 call with an emergency ambulance crew. There is also a team of people with different roles who provide the vital back-up, as well as the non-emergency patient transport service that is so valued by the community.
Before the accident and emergency crews take to the road, other members of the trained team take the 999 call, decide rapidly what action is needed and then ensure that it happens.
If the situation is critical, one of the control staff might have to talk a distressed caller through a lifesaving procedure or collect more essential information as the ambulance travels to the scene.
Less obvious on our streets, but still essential, are the non-emergency ambulances. Day after day, patient transport services, as they are known, carry disabled, elderly and vulnerable people to and from outpatient appointments, hospital admissions, day centres and clinics. Without them, many people would be unable to carry on leading independent lives in the community.
There is a variety of different opportunities for you to work within the ambulance service.
On this page:
- Ambulance care assistant
- Ambulance technician
- Call handler
- Emergency care assistant
- Emergency medical dispatcher
- Paramedic
- Senior paramedic
- Patient transport services (PTS) controller
Ambulance care assistant
As an ambulance care assistant, you will drive patients to and from routine hospital admissions and other non-urgent healthcare appointments. You’ll be responsible for looking after them on the journey and while they are being transferred to and from the vehicle. Because many of the passengers will be in poor health, care assistants also need lifesavings skills in case there is a medical emergency.
Ambulance technician
Although ambulance service trusts currently employ ambulance technicians, it will no longer be possible to enter this role as a new entrant in the future. Those technicians currently working will be provided with opportunities to work as emergency care assistants or progress onto paramedic training, where they meet the requirements to do so.
Call handler
As a call handler you will answer 999 calls from the public and GPs. Working quickly and calmly, you’ll take the essential details about the patient’s condition and the exact location, logging them on to the computer system. This information is then passed on to an emergency medical dispatcher and then used to make important decisions about how best to handle the situation. As a senior call handler, you may have to talk a member of the public through procedures to resuscitate an unconscious patient or deliver a baby while the ambulance is on its way. Some employers combine the roles of call handler and emergency medical dispatcher.
Emergency care assistant
As an emergency care assistant, you will respond to emergency calls as part of an accident and emergency crew and treat patients under the direction of a paramedic. You'll drive a range of ambulance service vehicles under normal and emergency (blue light) circumstances and help to move and transport patients safely. You’ll carry out checks to vehicles at the start of and during each shift, to make sure they are clean, have fuel and are appropriately stocked.
Emergency medical dispatcher
As an emergency medical dispatcher you receive details of 999 calls requesting an ambulance on a computer screen. The information will have been collected by a call handler. Using your training to assess the type of emergency, you’ll determine what response is needed and, if appropriate, send the nearest ambulance, rapid-response car, motorcycle or even paramedic helicopter to the scene . Some employers combine the roles of call handler and emergency medical dispatcher.
Paramedic
As a paramedic, you will be the senior healthcare professional at an accident or a medical emergency. Working either on your own or with an ambulance technician, you’ll assess the patient’s condition and then give essential treatment. You will use high-tech equipment, such as defibrillators (which restore the heart’s rhythm), spinal and traction splints and intravenous drips, and as well as administering oxygen and drugs.
Senior paramedic
The work of a senior paramedic crosses the traditional boundaries of paramedics and nurses. Based in a GP surgery, minor injury unit, hospital accident and emergency department or other setting, you will assess patients with certain symptoms and conditions, such as suspected fractures or chest pain. You will take a medical history, examine the patient and order tests and scans as necessary. You might then decide to give treatment yourself or to refer on to another healthcare professional. You’ll have great scope for extending your role even further, with more training and qualifications.
Patient transport services (PTS) controller
As a PTS controller, you’ll be responsible for organising transport to take patients to and from outpatient clinics, routine hospital admissions and other non-urgent appointments. You will record information accurately and also make the best use of NHS vehicles and drivers.
