Beyond hype to reality

As a newly qualified paramedic (NQP), I frequently remember my time as a student paramedic. I can remember studying about various laws like Boyle's and Henry's, but I can't quite remember learning about Finagle's Law, sometimes known as Sod's Law, which states that ‘anything that can go wrong will—at the worst possible time.’

Before I started my training as a paramedic, like many of my peers, I would watch television documentaries that discussed the ‘drama and difficulties’ that frontline employees experience on a daily basis. Of course, the reality is different, or at least it was extremely different for me when I was a student on a placement and working as an emergency medical technician during the ‘sandwich’ year of my degree. I was aware that the ambulance service had changed from being the conventional transportation arm of the NHS to the centre of the healthcare system—serving as a bridge between primary, secondary, and community care, with paramedics providing a rapid response.