Ambulance UK December 2023

EDITOR’S COMMENT
EDITOR’S COMMENT
Welcome to this issue of AUK.
Welcome to the Christmas 2023 edition of Ambulance UK. This time of the year is traditionally a time to
meet with families and friends and to think forward to the new year and consider how they can improve. As
I looked through the various articles for this edition, I was pleased to see so many articles about improving
survival to discharge of patients suffering out of hospital cardiac arrest. Among these were meetings
between survivors and the clinicians who had responded to them when they had their cardiac arrest.
However, I also see the other side of these events. I am involved with investigating and reviewing far too
many cases where we have not done as well as we could have done at cardiac arrest cases. These can
AMBULANCE UK – DECEMBER
“I have always
thought that
successful
resuscitations
are among the
best events for
an ambulance
clinician. When
we have returned
a patient to
their family and
friends, there is a
special sense of
achievement and
success. In my
job, I get to send
letters to all the
clinicians involved
with successful
resuscitations. It
is part of my work
that gives me a
sense of pride for
the clinicians that
work in my area.”
involve issues with rhythm recognition, medicine administration, clinical decision making, or any number of
other events that have reduced the chance of a patient recovering and returning home to their family.
I have spoken with senior clinicians in other ambulance trusts and the stories they tell are the same.
However, we can sometimes fall into the trap of blaming the clinician on scene. We can see it as their fault;
that they have made a mistake. However, when we understand that many of our clinicians see only two or
three cardiac arrests a year, it is easy to understand why they can be overwhelmed by the event and allow
things to go astray. They are complex situations, requiring various procedures to be done concurrently; all
of which need to be done quickly and efficiently to improve chances of success.
As ambulance trusts have become busier, the opportunities for training updates have become fewer.
Somehow, we must find time to improve this. If we are expecting high standards, we need to invest in time
for training. Just as we spend money on new systems to improve response times, and better equipment,
we need to invest in training and practice time for our clinicians.
Doing this will help improve the numbers of people who survive to discharge following an out of hospital
cardiac arrest. That will mean more people able to spend time with their friends and families at this time of
year. So, for next year, I will be working hard on making sure the clinicians I am responsible for have had the
appropriate time to practice their resuscitation skills for when it is their time to make a difference.
In closing, I would like to wish you all a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. If you are working, stay safe,
and look after each other.
Matt House, Co-Editor Ambulance UK
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For nearly 40 years, thanks to trade support, we have been able to provide Ambulance UK FREE
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something to read during their free time however, return on investment seems to be the buzz word
amongst Ambulance Service Suppliers these days, therefore if you enquire about a product advertised,
please mention Ambulance UK as it help us confirm to the trade that we are reaching the right
people and providing advertisers with value for money. In respect of our current edition we would like
to thank the following companies for their support as without their contribution towards our print and
postal costs this issue would not have been published - Bluelight UK, DS Medical, Ferno, IPRS,
Ortus, St Johns Western Australia.
Terry Gardner
Publisher
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