Name:
Dave Pritchard
Job Title:
Community Paramedic
Base:
Bromyard
Length of Service:
10 years
Role within West Midlands Ambulance Service:
I respond to a variety of different patient groups in the community. I then assess their condition and clinical requirements which then allows me to decide on the best course of action for the patient instead of just sending them to hospital.
The community paramedic job is important because it helps ease the pressure on hospitals and ambulance crews and this is achieved through additional training in clinical assessment and a close working relationship with GPs, district nurses etc. in the area.
I enjoy my job because I feel I make a difference. I find a lot of patients these days, particularly the elderly think I will automatically take them to hospital and they can become quite anxious about it.
They don’t expect such a thorough examination from paramedics and they are much happier when there is no need to be taken to hospital as in many cases treatment can be provided within their community.
It can be an education to them that there are other ways they can be treated locally.
Christmas Day Plans:
I am looking forward to spending Christmas day with my wife and young son.
Top tip for Winter – Sign the winter pledge
Support the NHS Choices Winter Friends campaign and sign our pledge to look in on an older friend or neighbour this winter.
Last winter, about 31,000 people in England died as a result of cold weather. Most of these people were over 75 and many of these deaths could have been avoided.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of older people spend much of the winter alone and lonely. According to Age UK, in 2010 1 in 20 people in the UK aged 65 and over say they spent Christmas Day alone.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Our Winter Friends campaign aims to get 100,000 people to sign a pledge to “take time out this winter to look in on an elderly friend or neighbour to make sure they are warm and coping well”.
Everyone who signs the pledge will get free cold weather alerts and email tips throughout the winter to help them do their bit. Sign up here: http://www.pledgebank.com/WinterFriends