A lesson on adaptability

Before the pandemic, I had been looking forward to this summer when I was supposed to complete my degree, graduate as a paramedic, and have a short break before starting work. Instead, I have received my first-class honours degree virtually, my graduation ceremony will likely now take place next summer, and I've started working as a temporary newly qualified paramedic (TNQP) with South Central Ambulance Service. I am currently midway through my induction and I'm a fortnight away from my preceptorship shifts before I begin working as an independent clinician.

As paramedicine is still a relatively ‘new’ profession in relation to other areas of healthcare, research in the prehospital environment is still lacking and there are so many variations in practice. Policies within ambulance service trusts and even practice from clinician to clinician within the same trust can differ in terms of everything from their techniques, to paperwork completion, to the tools they use to assess patients. Even for events as common as a stroke, there are many different instruments for assessment such as the FAST test, the MEND checklist and the ROSIER scale. During my last year as a student paramedic, I have come to accept that I need to be flexible in my approach and always be open to learning from updated research and from colleagues—particularly as I enter the ambulance service at a time where guidelines on personal protective equipment (PPE) and policies are changing on an almost daily basis.