Publications - London Ambulance Service
Recent Submissions
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Novel moving, handling and extraction simulation for students in a soft play areaBackground: Emergency medical services often have to extricate patients from their location and take them to an ambulance. High-quality training is required to ensure patient and staff safety during moving, handling and extrication manoeuvres. This study aimed to determine student satisfaction and self-confidence regarding what they had learnt after a novel moving, handling and extrication simulation exercise in a children's soft play area. Methods: A mixed-methods cross-sectional survey was adopted, using the validated Student Satisfaction and Self-Confidence in Learning survey tool. Qualitative data were collected from an open question for additional comments. Student paramedics and student emergency medical technicians from one higher education institution completed four time-limited scenarios, each of which involved moving an immobile patient away from their environment. Descriptive statistics were determined for the participant characteristics and survey responses. Thematic analysis was performed on the qualitative data. Results: The student participants were aged 18–47 years and the majority were women. They were satisfied with both their learning and their self-confidence in what they had learnt after the simulation event, and felt their communication and teamwork skills had improved. They enjoyed the event more than classroom-based simulation. While they felt the simulation was realistic, suggestions were made to make it more so. Conclusion: Use of a children's soft play area for a moving, handling and extrication simulation provided student satisfaction and self-confidence in learning. Abstract published with permission.
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Learning curvesKaty Sofield describes intense learning curves as she prepares to become operational Abstract published with permission
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A new adventureThird year came around in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it, the Christmas holidays were here and, in the new year, the university had put on a recruitment day for prospective ambulance services to come in to talk to students. Over the two recruitment days, I heard pitches from most ambulance trusts across the UK and Wales. The Trust I carried out my placement with was North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), with other contenders being East Midlands and Yorkshire. Following this, I completed an elective placement with London Ambulance Service (LAS) (Sofield, 2023). While this was with advanced paramedic practitioners in urgent care, it gave me a taste of London Ambulance Service (LAS) as a whole, which sparked an interest in potentially moving and working for them in the future. Abstract published with permission.
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Effective healthcare communication with children and young people: a systematic review of barriers and facilitatorsOBJECTIVE: To identify children and young people's preferences for effective healthcare communication. DESIGN: A systematic review of qualitative studies was conducted to identify evidence from children and young people on effective healthcare communication. Electronic databases and reference lists of relevant articles were searched to July 2020. RESULTS: A total of 13 studies were included. Five major themes were identified: medical information (timing, amount, coordination and futures), person not patient (creating relationships, time, nurse involvement, sensitivity), type of communication (creative and interactive, behavioural, talking and listening, written communication), consultations (first impressions, with and without parents, actively promoting involvement, open and honest, age appropriate) and communication with parents (using parental knowledge, support). CONCLUSIONS: Research in this area remains sparse and consistent implementation is debateable. Children and young people articulate a preference for two-way healthcare communication. General principles for effective communication are identified as well as the need to avoid making assumptions and to tailor approaches to individuals. Establishing and maintaining relationships is essential and requires time and resources. Parents and carers have a positive role in healthcare communication which needs to be balanced with the needs and rights of children. All these factors also apply to children with communication difficulties or from marginalised groups, but additional extra support may be required. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42019145539 https://adc.bmj.com/content/107/12/1111. This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2015-000281