They are the students training to be the next generation of life savers at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
Paramedicine students Kat Beer, Katy Stirzaker and Ben Worboys have seen the foundations of their careers laid down by their lecturers and built on them with vital hands-on placements in rural and city centre ambulance stations.
The job varies every day, with many highs and lows, but ultimately the three students say the practical work on the road, mixed with the theory in the classroom, has been incredibly rewarding.
And they all agree that the ambulance crews who have helped them with their training and education are deserving of their own International Paramedics Day, which is marked tomorrow, Saturday 8 July.
Kat, who has just completed her final year BSc Hons Paramedicine, said: “The three years studying at DMU have been wonderful. I like the fact the role is unpredictable.
“The theory and practical work are split 50/50. When you do your practical experience you just never know what is going to happen next.
“There is always a sense of excitement. My heart beats faster when a call comes in and, after three years, I still get nervous. I don’t think that will ever go away because of what we have to do.
“The job is so varied and rewarding no matter the size of the job because you are making an impact on someone’s life.”
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Katy, who has also just completed her final year said: “It has been an intense course and a massive learning curve but it has been really enjoyable. I am actually quite sad for the course to come to an end. It is so important to be there for people when they are probably experiencing the worst day of their life.
“You see so many people over the space of a year that sometimes you forget their faces, but they mostly remember you. I got approached by a man in hospital who came up to me and said ‘you helped my wife last year and I am grateful for what you did’.
“I wrote a reflection on it to remind myself that people will always remember what you did for them.
“This third year has been a lot more intense, as you’d expect. The cohort size is really good and we are all very close because of what we have experienced together. We are also close to our teachers and lecturers and can be very open with them.
“They teach us everything we need to know but then you have to apply it on the road. We gain such important experience from going out there and doing our job.”
Ben, who is about to enter his final year in Paramedicine, said: “I have been interested in becoming a paramedic since I was five. I completed a gap year prior to coming to university and I was someone coming to DMU with not much clinical experience at all. But the university is preparing us well. It is incredible what I have learned from the start to where I am now, almost two years later.
“When people were unwell, I always wished I had the knowledge and responsibility to step in. Now my mentor lets me take the lead and hasn’t had to get involved. The responsibility and confidence I have now when I’m treating a patient is great.
“The patients we see are at the beginning of their NHS journey and when they thank you for what you have done it is incredibly rewarding.”
Kat said ambulance staff around the world deserved their day.
“After spending so much time with them on placement, and seeing the responsibility they take and the commitment they show to patients and the NHS, they really deserve this.”
All three agree that Paramedicine is becoming more and more popular at DMU. So, what tips do they have for anyone applying to join the course?
“Be prepared,” Katy says. “It is not your typical uni course where you can go out with your mates. You spend a lot of time on placement and you need to be ready to work hard. Do not take training to be a paramedic light-heartedly.”
Ben adds: “I would recommend the course to anyone interested in a career with the ambulance service. However, it is a course that requires a lot of resilience – especially on placement – but the effort you put in brings great rewards.”
Posted on Friday 7 July 2023