Name: Shereen O’Driscoll
Job Title: PTS Apprentice
Base: Coventry Ambulance Station
Length of service: Approximately 3 months
Role within WMAS:
Shereen is a Patient Transport Service Apprentice and is studying for an intermediate level apprenticeship in Health (Healthcare Support Services), which involves her undertaking hands on work experience alongside our PTS staff. Apprentices are provided with the opportunity to develop a wide range of skills over the 12 month programme and on successful completion of the course, all of our apprentices can apply for substantive posts.
Our non-emergency Patient Transport Service plays a key role in ensuring thousands of patients from around the region get to their outpatient appointments each day. Every year, our staff complete an incredible 800,000 PTS journeys.
Shereen, who has always wanted to work for the ambulance service, really enjoys working with the staff and patients in Coventry and Warwickshire. She thinks the apprenticeship scheme provides a great opportunity; enabling her to carry out a job that she loves, whilst gaining the qualifications that she needs to progress within service.
Christmas day plans:
Shereen will spending time with her two lovely children on Christmas day.
Top tip for Winter:
Kitchen Safety / Food Poisoning
The last thing anyone wants is to celebrate Christmas with a case of food poisoning. Sadly, our crews end up dealing with many cases each festive period. Here is some simple advice: Store food that needs to be chilled in the fridge until you need it. Make sure the fridge temperature is below 5°C. Always wash your hands before and after handling food, especially when raw meat and poultry is involved. Defrost the turkey can take up to 48 hours if it is a large bird. Work out the times before you start. Eighty per cent of people say they wash their turkeys before cooking them, but this significantly increases the risk of food poisoning by splashing germs around the kitchen. Meanwhile, 17% of people aren’t sure how to tell when their turkey is cooked. Make sure your turkey is steaming hot all the way through before serving. When you cut into the thickest part of the turkey, none of the meat should be pink. If juices flow out when you pierce the turkey or when you press the thigh, they should be clear.