The College of Paramedics (COP) in collaboration with the Princes Trust (PT) and St John Ambulance (SJA) invited young people from minoritised ethnic groups into a university setting for three days of a paramedic immersive experience.
The aim was to raise awareness of careers in paramedicine and the ambulance sector within this currently under-represented group.
The event was hosted at the University of the West of England in Bristol.
All the participants, staff from the College of Paramedics, student paramedics and support staff from the PT and SJA stayed in the halls of residence at the university and in the evenings, they enjoyed sports activities and a music night which included learning to DJ, play the hand drums and forming a band.
South Western Ambulance Service offered staff from their Learning and Development teams who supported with the BLS and equipment training on the first day of the event. They also facilitated location visits to their central ambulance station, HART base and Emergency Operations Center.
Whilst in these locations the participants learnt about the variety of roles offered by ambulance services, how to communicate instructions when you cannot see the patient and they had an opportunity to get hands on practice with some of the equipment HART use.
Final year student paramedics were involved in the planning and design of the day of simulation activities the participants engaged in. During these sessions participants learnt, among other things, how to manage someone choking, how to clear an airway, bandaging techniques and haemorrhage control.
On the afternoon of the final day, we celebrated their achievements, handing out certificates and prizes and they heard from paramedics from minoritised ethnic groups about their journey to becoming paramedics.
After the event, the participants were sent an evaluation form to complete and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. We have since learnt that of the 14 participants, 4 now work in the ambulance service with one even moving across the country in order to do so.
View a short film of the event here:
The College of Paramedics and our collaborators are very happy to announce that the ParaMEdic Project is being held again this year and we have moved to the North West region working with Edge Hill University and the North West Ambulance Service.
For further details about this initiative feel free to contact Sarah Todd,
Diversity, Equity and Belonging Manager at the College of Paramedics,
via sarah.todd@collegeofparamedics.co.uk
We’ll continue to post our Spotlight updates each month in our website’s News section and via X / Twitter at @AACE_Org.
