A group of teenagers have spent the past week on work experience with West Midlands Ambulance Service.
Health service-savvy students from schools in Warwickshire, Birmingham, the Black Country and Staffordshire have spent the week at Erdington Hub in Birmingham as part of the Trust’s work experience programme. The 11-strong group of teenagers met a range of operational staff, including paramedics from the Trust’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), to find out more about their roles and responsibilities.
The students discovered how 999 calls are handled, the work of community first responders (CFRs), the management of trauma patients and how the Midlands Air Ambulance help patients. They also got to grips with the back of an ambulance and had a go at using an automated external defibrillator (a device used to restart someone’s heart when they’ve suffered a cardiac arrest) to test their life saving skills.
Diane Pittom, the Trust’s Organisational Development Officer, said: “Engaging with young people is an important investment for us and helps to further enhance the quality of our future workforce. This opportunity has allowed the students to see beyond the blue lights and explore the service ‘behind the scenes’ to discover to broad range of roles that make up the ambulance service.
“Their enthusiasm to learn, confidence to ask questions and unique personalities have made this week incredibly successful and I hope it’s given them food for thought to apply for future jobs with us.”
Jack Dudley, 17 from Leamington Spa, is a student at Myton School in Warwick and said: “I’ve really loved this week as I’ve wanted to be a paramedic since I was young so it’s been inspiring for me. To learn about the different job roles available has been incredible. I always thought you had to go to university to become a paramedic, but I’ve found out you can apply directly with West Midlands Ambulance Service so I’m now counting down the days until I leave college. HART were definitely the highlight for me as they’re so specialised; it’s something I’d love to be a part of one day.”
