Developing and diversifying

As I arrived for the first day of a recent training course, it was inevitable that we would be exposed to an ice breaker; so off we go, around the room disclosing names, what brought us there, something interesting about ourselves and, of course, our job titles. Cue some nodding heads, intended to conjure an impression of understanding, but betrayed by quizzical facial expressions that indicated the thought, ‘A what paramedic?’. I only made it to the first coffee break before someone asked me what a consultant paramedic is. Proof, I thought, if it were needed, that this column remains a useful exercise in sharing my role and my thoughts on paramedic practice today.

We are naturally inquisitive beings, and where a gap in our knowledge or understanding exists, we do what we can to fill the void. Hopefully we can establish enough information to accurately fill the gaps; but in the absence of information, our brains naturally try to fill those gaps based on past experience, general understanding and good ole’ fashioned guess work. I'll regularly see this when I begin to explain what I do, or more specifically, what my clinical interests are. Most of the time, the individual appears to have filled the information gap with a preconceived idea of a consultant paramedic—the assumption being that I'm a critical care fanatic who enjoys nothing more than getting stuck in at a major trauma or cardiac arrest incident. So I say this openly to you now: my name is Dan Smith, I am a Consultant Paramedic and I detest critical care work.