Medical students train with Yorkshire Ambulance Service

22 February 2012

Students from the Hull York Medical School (HYMS) and Community First Responders (CFR) across Yorkshire received training from Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust at Hull Royal Infirmary on Saturday 18^th February.

The training, which was the first of its kind in the region, gave students and volunteers invaluable experience of working with ambulance clinicians to deliver acute medical care.

There are currently 63 medical students trained as CFRs across Hull and York, who will respond to 999 calls alongside the ambulance service within their local community as part of the wider Community First Responder initiative. The students and other volunteers are trained in basic life-support, Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and oxygen therapy and how to respond to 999 calls.

All CFRs are equipped with a kit which includes oxygen and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and will provide reassurance and assistance to patients in a medical emergency prior to the arrival of ambulance clinicians.

This particular event provided additional training in medical simulation, the purpose of this is to train medical professionals and clinicians to reduce accidents during surgery and general practice. Simulation training has an important role to play in crisis situations; the spectrum varies greatly from simulated patients to state of the art manikins.

The training has been arranged through the HYMS Pre-Hospital Care Programme (PCP), which was set up in 2009 by HYMS students with the vision to prepare medical students who intend to work in pre-hospital care. The programme aims to take medical students to similar competencies as a level 5 pre-hospital practitioner. This is described as able to examine and assess patients’ acute and chronic condition, record a full history and treat to a specified level.

HYMS student Abilius Wong, Programme Lead of HYMS PCP says: “I am delighted that so many medical students and volunteers chose to do this training. The partnership with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service is hugely beneficial and we are keen to extend our professional experience in this environment, thereby helping our local communities.”

Neil Marsay, Community Defibrillation Officer at Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said: “The Hull York Medical School is the first of its kind to have joined our life-saving Community First Responder scheme. As they already work in partnership with the NHS in the region, we felt it would be beneficial to develop this relationship and are delighted to be working alongside them.

“We know that in many medical emergencies the first few minutes are critical and if effective treatment can be given to patients within those minutes, disability can be reduced and lives can be saved.

“Every second counts when someone is seriously ill or injured and, with experienced student doctors based at both university sites and living within their communities, we felt it could only be beneficial to draw on these attributes when medical emergencies occur.”

Ends.