Zoe Hale

Work for Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) as a Paramedic based from Peebles Ambulance Station. Worked for the NHS for 16 plus years, previously in nursing as an Auxiliary Nurse. Commenced employment with SAS on 18/09/2023 as a Newly Qualified Paramedic (NQP). Completed NQP year on 18/09/2024.

Paramedics duty is to preserve life, prevent deterioration and promote recovery of individuals. My role and responsibilities include providing routine and emergency front line medical and trauma care. Assessing patient conditions, delivering good quality person centred care.

• Observations/vital signs
• ECG's.
• Administering treatment i.e. IV, IM, buccal, sublingual and oral drugs
• Basic Life Support (BLS)
• Advanced Life Support (ALS)
• Cannulation, venous bloods, blood cultures.

Use all types of equipment: pelvic binder, kendrick splint, box splint, vacuum splint, vacuum mat, immobilisation equipment, suction, manger elk. Trained and experienced to use all types of SAS bariatric equipment. Throughout my period of employment as a Paramedic. Wealth of experience in trauma and medical issues. Attended many patients with anaphylaxis, asthma attacks, exacerbations of COPD, pulmonary embolisms, abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), myocardial infarctions MI's), cerebrovascular accidents (CVA's), respiratory and cardiac arrests, peri-arrests, pulmonary embolisms (PE's), Neck of Femur (NOF's) fractures and all types of RTC's (including fatalities) with motorcyclists, cycle bikes, and cars. Delivered care to patients who have attempted suicide, including major life threatening trauma by self-harm, and sadly those who have committed suicide. Having gained a vast majority of exposure to many traumatic events.

Robust resilience with a protective armour. There must be an element of being able to distance yourself, whilst having a lot of empathy, compassion and feelings for individuals. Emotions can certainly appear when reflecting on jobs nevertheless, reflection and process are vital, and learning to make peace with the outcome.

Attend a substantial amount of Mental Health (MH) calls on shifts, including crisis calls, overdoses and suicides. The job may be time critical and In which an A-E assessment is crucial. Treat the patient with the required life support and drugs, then promptly convey to hospital. In a non-time critical MH job, take time to build up a rapport with every patient. Being aware of local pathways e.g, MH crisis teams. Recently attended a MH workshop run by SAS on MH disorders, in my own time. Gained knowledge, on all types of MH disorders. Taking time actively listening to patient's is vital. As a Paramedic often there are visits to High Intensity Users (HIU). It can often be for the very same complaint, every time. It is important to give the same care to each individual patient, every time, and avoid any biased thinking. I refer to alternate pathways, that best suits the patient's need, if they do not require a 999 ambulance, to keep them 'safe for now' at home. Genuine interest in MH which is a huge part of every shift. Supporting MH patients to give them a service that they deserve, meeting the patients need.

Experience of being single crewed many times and been first on scene to patients requiring urgent medical assistance, which could be fatal for the patient. Have a calm approach managing the patient and the situation on my own, using family or by-standers who are willing to help, until back-up arrives. Providing the upmost care for all involved, making sure that anyone involved, has been supported and also providing guidance for example, leaving a 'by-stander CPR card' before leaving the scene, when the outcome is futile.

Even in positive outcomes the patient's family and friends can often require support with care. Making sure everything is in place for the individual and family. When in the unfortunate circumstances that the patient has died, the recovery of the by-stander or family member, is as equally as important, as the deceased.

Focus well for every job, even in distressful situations for others. Pre-planning ahead with my colleague and/or student, as well as when working alone, for each job. Having a readiness which prepares me physically, psychologically, and emotionally. It is equally as important to have a pre-briefing with my colleague on route to jobs, as it is, as de-briefing.

Discussing what may lie ahead, and de-briefing the job is a positive part of the reflecting process both. Reflection is equally as important 'in-action' as 'on- action'. It also allows for a discussion from all staff involved, of what went well and what could have gone better. This helps to process the job together as a team and can be beneficial for future practice implementation.

Teamworking is of the upmost importance. Working with all types of frontline services, police, fire and rescue Helimed, SORT, Critical Care, Advanced Paramedic Practitioners as well as mountain rescue. Working along side VQ4 students. Supporting BSc students in their training on shifts, and showing leadership in all situations, as a lead clinician in jobs.

Completed the Practice Educator Mentorship Course and can mentor BSc student's. Being involved in training simulations. Training school students in ALS. Keeping Learnpro, Turas and CPD up to date. CPD events and continually study in my own time.

I would be grateful for the opportunity to further my career as a Paramedic. I would be fully committed to studying a PGDip, and keen to study a MSc thereafter.

Permanent nightshifts for DN's. On-call alongside Registered General Nurse (RGN) visiting patient's who required any nursing needs. Please refer to previous Auxiliary experience listing for details.

Continued service working on NHS Staff Bank whilst studying Paramedic Science BSc at University. Worked throughout 3 years of studying, until commencing Paramedic Job in September 2023.

No Gap year. Continued service through NHS Bank. Originally planned to have the year out and work in Australia for one year. However, this fell through.

Worked for NHS for over 16 years. Permanent posts alongside working for Staff Bank, throughout my career. Flexibility on Staff Bank to select shifts for many different teams. Worked for OOH (out of hours) Community District Nursing Team permanently for many years. Worked for Hospital @ Home Team and HECT (Hospital Emergency Care Team) around my university course, BSc in Paramedic Science with Queen Margaret University.

District Nursing Team OOH - this involved working alongside a RGN (Registered General Nurse). Visiting patients in their own homes providing nursing care that they require. Delivering patient centred care to suit each individual's own needs. Attending palliative patients providing medications they require to keep them comfortable, as well as personal and continence care. Attended patients who require:

• Catheter care
• Nephrostomy care
• Administering suppositories
• Wound management care
• Peg medications
• Stoma care
• Parenteral feeds/fluids and all types of general nursing care
  
  Previous permanent posts, experience of working day shifts for DN Team, lone working and providing care for housebound patients. Skills include:
• Obtaining venous bloods
• Vital signs
• Wound management care
• Suture and Staple removal,

Hospital @ Home Team - Visited patients in their own homes. Carrying out care obtaining observations, 12-lead ECG's and tasks (as above), including fitting 24-hour heart monitors, and provide support for families to enable them to keep their loved ones at home.

Hospital Emergency Care Team (HECT) Team (nightshifts) - This involves lone working. In charge of DECT (digital enhanced cordless telecommunications) phone. Covered 18 wards in Hairmyres Hospital. The Nurses & Doctors on wards would call when requiring patient's to be cannulated or emergency bloods overnight. It was vital to priorities patients who need urgent cannulation for intravenous (IV) antibiotics therapy and parenteral feeds/fluids, and those who require emergency bloods.

Experience in working for many services in NHS throughout career. Knowledge and skills of working for

• MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Nursing Service
• Oncology Unit, Maternity Unit (including anti-natal, post-natal, theatre bay and labour ward)
• Sexual Health Clinics
• Flu Clinics
• GP Treatment Rooms
• Respiratory Wards
• Theatre
• AMU (Acute Medical Unit)
• Gynaecology Outpatients
• Orthopaedic Outpatients.
  
  Gained substantial IT skills in many different systems which include, Midis, Morse, Vision, TeraPACE and many more.

Please refer to previous Auxiliary Nurse experience listing.

Maternity Healthcare Assistant - Duties included total patient care, antenatal care, delivery room assistance, and post natal care.

• Breast feeding support
• BM’s mum’s and babies / TBG’s if BM’s low
• Phlebotomy
• Demonstration baby baths for first time mum’s
• Comfort feeds
• Assisting with emergency’s
• Stocking/CSSD
• MEWS observations
• Post operative care for sections in theatre bay
• Preparation for suturing
• General house keeping i.e. Serving meals, cleaning delivery rooms

Safeguarding women and their babies in maternity unit from abusive partners/fathers of babies. Hand overs would provide information regarding patients and babies circumstances including any Social Work input.

Assisting with emergency situations. Baby's born into the world not breathing, calling the necessary number to get all teams required to respond as quickly as possible to assist.

Mum's who fainted and became unresponsive after birth. Having a calm approach, in what could be stressful situations, and supporting each other through some traumatic times.

Treatment rooms - Lone working and Team Working. Work quickly and efficiently with timed appointments. Inform patients of the procedure and reassured that the doctor will confirm the results. Building trusting relationships with the long-term patients.

• Venepuncture
• Vital signs (Manual BP's, RR, SPO2, HR, Temp, BM's, ECG's).
• Wound management
• Dopplers

Please refer to previous Veterinary Receptionist/Assistant. Returned to this role.

Phlebotomist - with experience of working in a busy hospital environment. Covered 20 wards with a team of six colleagues in Hairmyres Hospital on a daily basis. Collection of venous blood samples from patients with differing health needs with many different conditions and diseases. Visited the outer units of the hospital to obtain bloods from patients in the dementia unit and the psychiatric unit. Learning how to communicate with the patients was vital to enable a positive outcome for the necessary bloods being taken, thus enabled the doctors to monitor the patients level of medication. At times patients could be challenging and resisting bloods, however in some cases, not having the capacity to do so. Being a calming influence and build a rapport with the long-term patients who got used to me visiting to taken their blood samples.

This gained trust in the patients including the vulnerable patients. Good communication skills. Being able to adapt my communication, adjusting my language to suit, being at a lower level than the patient and ensuring to gave a positive verbal and non-verbal attitude. Active listening in all interactions with patients. Thus being paramount in providing the best person -centred care. Each patients should be respected at all times and left comfortable.

• Maintained strict adherence to health regulations in all tasks, ensuring patient safety.
• Answered patient queries with clarity, alleviating concerns about procedure.
• Prepared patients for procedure by explaining process thoroughly.

Taylor Veterinary Practice - Worked between three Surgeries. Cathkin, East Kilbride & Clarkston. Responsibilities included opening the surgery in the morning and closing at night. Worked alongside the Veterinary Surgeon and assisted with different procedures.

• Dealing with client queries & signing animals in when they arrive
• Answering telephone calls
• Helping Vets hold distressed animals and assisting in putting animals to sleep (raising veins)
• Cleaning the surgery and equipment to help prevent infection
• Taking card/cash payments, operating the till, banking
• Checking drugs are in date. Disposing of out of date drugs.
• Responsible for making up off duty/rota on a monthly basis
• Insurance Advisor

• Assisted veterinarians with minor procedures, contributing to patient wellbeing.

Leaseguard Insurance Brokers. Setting up insurance policies for Landlord's, Tenant's and commercial Insurance policies. Dealt with renewals and claims.

• Carried out administrative tasks efficiently, maintaining organised work environment.
• Liaised with insurers and solicitors for smooth claim settlement process.
• Provided detailed information about insurance policies to prospective clients.
• Followed up on lapsed policies, ensuring continuity of coverage for clients.