Hello, Guides: How to be a Paramedic (Part 2)

So far we have established that university is one possible route to towards the world of paramedics. But what else is there?

The other option is getting on through an NHS trust. This is also a surprisingly difficult path as many of the trusts have had a ‘glut’ of applications in recent years and can’t afford to take more trainees. Many trusts also have the ongoing problem of budget cuts.

But what are the nitty gritty bits of becoming a paramedic I hear you say? Exams, interviews? How do you actually get into university to study to become a paramedic? That kind of thing. Well you can find all this out on the website http://www.howtobecomeaparamedic.co.uk/ and get their DVD and book with all the insider information on how to become a paramedic for £12.99. Should there really be a charge for how to become a paramedic-shouldn’t the be process more standardised?

The thing that struck me when looking up the details of paramedic of how to become a paramedic was how convoluted it all was. Although the NHS website provides quite a lot information it is all very general. The website is also hard to negotiate. There is very little information from people already in the business. The only article I could find was here on the Guardian website. The one place that seems to be a house of information you have to pay for. Also the titles of many of the courses at the universities have different names sometimes they are called paramedic science, sometimes paramedic studies which presents quite a confusing picture.

There are also very few options for those who can’t go to university. You essentially have to keep applying to NHS trusts to try and get a place or any kind of position within the ambulance services and hopefully work your way up from there. While I appreciate that they need to weed out people who simply won’t make the grade, should starting out really be this hard?

There is also nothing for anyone who is at the very start of becoming a paramedic, an idiot’s guide essentially. Perhaps there should be?

Are you training to be a paramedic? how are you finding it? Please let us know @helloemergency

Next up in this series of Hello, Guides: How to be a firefighter.


Featured Image Source: Simon Lamrock from London UK [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], Used with his permission via the Wikimedia Commons

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