Managing my way

/ 01 July 2009

Gary Balderston, Paramedic, Kent air ambulance

Gary Balderston, Paramedic, Kent air ambulance

I work as a paramedic with Kent Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS). We work in close partnership with surrounding areas (Surrey and Sussex) so I could get a task anywhere in this area. So far, we’ve flown 408 missions this year.On the team, we have six paramedics, two doctors, two pilots and two clinical managers. We also have a very good ground team at Marden who work hard supporting the air crew, base staff and volunteers.

One pilot, one doctor and one paramedic are on the duty crew each day, and we have a team approach to all tasking, deployment, aviation and clinical decisions, so all members of the duty crew have an input.

The hours vary –  we work 12 hours in the summer but 10 hours in the winter as we don’t land at night. I either fly on the aircraft or task the HEMS desk based in ambulance control. We start shift at 07.00, prepare the equipment needed for the day and check the aviation fuel. At the same time the pilot checks over the aircraft. Around 07:30 we book online with the ambulance control. We then wait like coiled springs for the ’bat phone’ to ring. Between call-outs we’ve got tasks to complete including stores ordering, training, research and cleaning. We also have visitors and cheque presentations to attend. At the end of the shift, the aircraft needs to be unkitted. We also need to prep for the following day’s work.

Our pilots all have a military background with a lot of experience and skill. The doctors come from all over the world to work with our unit and are all specialist registrar or consultant grade with special interest in pre-hospital emergency medicine. The doctors are with the unit for about a year before they move on. The paramedics have all been at the unit for longer. To become a HEMS paramedic involves passing a series of very rigorous selection tests and interviews. We’re also on a new training programme called the ‘Critical care paramedic’, a masters level course.

You need to be calm, empathetic, observant and a pedantic team player to do this job, as the challenges are different with every task that we do. Sometimes difficulties arise many days, weeks or months after an incident. We might be dealing with a multi casualty, multi vehicle entrapment road traffic crash, then have to break some bad news to a parent or relative that someone very dear to them has passed away. It’s tough.