An air ambulance paramedic has lifted the lid on what it is like to work for the emergency service.
Steven Miller was based in St Helens as a paramedic for almost eight years before moving to the North West Air Ambulance Charity as a HEMS critical care paramedic. The 33-year-old has been in the role for just over a year.
Speaking to the ECHO, Steven has given an insight on what it is like to work for the emergency service, how it differs from being on the road and what he loves about the job. When applying for the role, Steven said people must undergo a "rigorous" application.
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Speaking to the ECHO, he said: "I found that to become a HEMS critical care paramedic it is very difficult, there are routinely very few positions available for lots of applicants. I had several years experience as a qualified paramedic prior to applying for the role and it has always been something that has caught my attention.
"You must undergo a rigorous application and interview process whereby each person undergoes a paper application and multiple practical and written exams to assess each paramedics competency and knowledge, before a final interview." Steven said aside from the different method of transport to get to patients, he is "as much of a paramedic as a road paramedic."
He added: "We have more exposure to critically ill medical and major trauma patients, and are privileged to be able to impact peoples lives for the better. We often work alongside other critical care paramedics as well as doctors to provide enhanced pre-hospital care, essentially bringing the hospital to patient for those who would otherwise not make the journey to hospital.
"To be able to do this we undergo additional training in relation to critical care through specialist training courses and university qualifications, such as training in emergency surgical skills, airway management and assisting in prehospital anaesthesia, enhanced pain relief and blood administration.
"We also travel a lot further to get patients than road paramedics and cover the North West rather than a specific local area. It’s surprising how quickly you can get to places you never thought possible."
Steven said when medics are considering whether to take a patient via air ambulance, it relies on a "clinical decision based on many factors". He said: "We consider how far it is to hospital and whether the hospital has a designated helicopter landing site or whether we need to land further away and get a lift to hospital. We aim to take patients directly to the specialist care we think they need.
"The helicopter helps massively with this as we can travel large distances quickly. For instance, if a patient was having a heart attack in a remote area far away from specialist care where an ambulance would take too long to get to hospital, we are able to facilitate transport so that the patient gets the very best health care.
"This is very evident with children who require specialist trauma or intensive care we can transport to one of two specialist paediatric hospitals in the northwest." On an average day, the air ambulance get helicopters get sent out around five times, according to Steven. He added some days the paramedics "may not get a dinner in 10 or 12 hours."
The paramedic said finding a place to land the air ambulance is "often tricky" and need they need to find an area big enough to fit the helicopter, including fields and big car parks. He added: "We need to be careful of electricity and telephone wires as they can be disastrous if we get tangled in them. Our number one priority is the safety of those people on the ground, so sometimes it can take a while to find somewhere safe to land, however this may be quite a way from the incident.
"We are extremely thankful for members of the public and our police colleagues who often help us with lifts to the scene of incidents when we can’t land closely. I’ve had lifts on tractors, 4x4s and boats, so it’s always interesting to see what happens."
Steven said although he has not been able to meet patients he had been involved with, he has met many treated by the North West Ambulance Service Charity. He said: "It's humbling, as well as amazing to see the benefit that we can have on peoples lives. Lives which often we can say would have been lost if not for the input of our teams.
"It’s important to remember that we get no funding from the government or the NHS to provide this care, it comes solely from donations and tireless work by our fantastic supporters who keep us flying. For which we are extremely grateful, thank you."
The 33-year-old said he has also had many moments of "awe and appreciation" when working for North West Ambulance Service Charity, including flying over his home where he will wave to his daughter. He said: "I will never forget the first time I flew over the Lake District, St Helens rugby stadium or landed outside the Liver buildings.
"Occasionally waving to my house and my little girl as I pass by. The first time I saw a shadow of a helicopter on the ground was a super cool moment just like the first glimpse of a blue light in a reflection I got on the road.
"My job takes me to interesting places, but also gives me the chance to meet some extraordinary people, such as the members of public that go above and beyond to defibrillate and resuscitate total strangers. More often than not we go to incidents that are a result of the worst aspects of society, but we are routinely met with feats of unbelievable selflessness, compassion and generosity, that restores my faith in humanity. It is a dream job, where I feel I get to impact people lives in there time of need."
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