When accidents or emergencies happen, ambulance services are always called for. The ambulance personnel are the ones involved in keeping the patient’s health status stable and improve the situation before the patient is directed to the ER for proper medication.
Though Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a standard medical approach during emergencies, the foundation, systems and laws may vary in different countries. In the United Kingdom, the Emergency Medical Service is publicly funded and governed by four health care systems. These are the National Health Service in England, Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Funding and governance might be separated by these health care systems however, there is no discrimination when a resident of one country of the United Kingdom requires treatment in another system in times of dire need. Once the patient is capable of moving, it will only be the time where they can be returned on their respective UK country.
UK’s Emergency Medical Services provides an emergency staff where each has a significant role. These staff may be referred to as an ambulance service where ambulance technicians and paramedics are assigned to respond to certain requests for care and medication. These aren’t just ordinary tasks. Ambulance services may only respond if there are:
- Emergency 999 calls
- Doctor’s urgent admission requests
- High dependency and urgent inter-hospital transfers
- Major incidents
Ambulance services may be either a public service and funded by the health care system and the government or a private business that requires a higher fee yet a more exclusive customer accommodation. But nevertheless, whether the ambulance service is run by the government or private entities, the people and medical experts involved must conform and based their ethics on the guidance published by the Joint Royal Colleges of medicine Ambulance Liaison Committee.
Within an ambulance service, the people completing the staff are composed of the ambulance driver, emergency technicians on Basic Life Support and paramedics on Advanced Life Support. There are usually three to five people within an ambulance including the driver and sometimes, it depends on how serious and crucial the situation is. Paramedics have a different role than the technicians that’s why they are categorised under ALS. These medical experts have the right to perform several medical techniques such as incision, AED (defibrillator) usage and intravenous medication whereas the ambulance technician can only monitor heart rates and the patient’s status during the trip to the emergency room.
When it comes to public ambulance services that are simply called as “Trusts” in Wales and England, there are twelve in England, five in Scotland, and one in Northern Ireland and Wales. Each trust has an area of responsibility in terms of radius and is open for duty 24/7. Along with this, ambulance trusts are monitored by the government constantly based on their performance. The Government’s targets are to reach 75% of Category A life-threatening calls as decided by the computerised AMPDS within eight minutes. A number of initiatives have been introduced to assist meeting these targets, including Rapid Response Vehicles and Community First Responders. Other than that, the job performance of the ambulance staff are evaluated as well in order to maintain the quality and integrity of the job as medical experts in the field.
