Dealing with cardiac arrests, timewasters and, more unusually, a fractured penis — it can all be part of the working day for a paramedic.
While these experiences might not be shared by all in this role, these are among the harrowing, mundane and more unusual encounters paramedic Wendy Berry told Guardian reporter Leo Benedictus about when he joined her on a night shift under the blues and twos.
Of course, many of us cannot count starting someone's heartbeat among our daily achievements at work — so it is evident a wealth of training is needed to complete this vital emergency services role.
Learning to be able to handle such situations is often through a three-year university course, including training to assess a patient's condition and administering urgent treatments.
If you are looking for this sort of challenge, here's your chance to find out how to make it happen — we've assembled a panel of experts to tell you what it is like working and training in this high-pressured environment.
The panel:
David Inglis is a student paramedic who is currently training directly with London Ambulance Service after changing careers from the financial services sector. David is almost a third of the way through three years of training and is currently 'on the road' in Newham, crewing an ambulance with more experienced medical staff.
John Ambrose is a senior lecturer in urgent and pre-hospital care at Liverpool John Moores University. John worked in a range of roles within the ambulance service for 22 years before developing his career in ambulance education.
Stuart Gray is a registered paramedic working with London Ambulance Service. Stuart has a degree in paramedic science and has been involved in pre-hospital care since 1992. He is the author of two books about his experiences, The Street Medic's Survival Guide and A Paramedic's Diary Life & Death On The Streets, and a blog, The Paramedic's Diary.
Andy Parker is a paramedic practitioner coordinator for South East Coast Ambulance Service.
Karen Charman is head of employment services at NHS Employers, which represents trusts in England on workforce issues and helps employers to ensure the NHS is a place people want to work. Karen is also a registered nurse, and she returns to this role once a month to keep connected with the needs of staff and patients.
Ali Sparke is a paramedic and clinical tutor for Great Western Ambulance Service. Ali started her career working for the Patient Transport Service before qualifying as a paramedic. She is currently on a secondment with the trust's learning and development team, which is involved in teaching student paramedics and current staff requiring initial or ongoing training.
