Medical students swap classroom for helicopter in air ambulance taster day

Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance (LNAA) recently hosted a successful taster day where doctors and paramedics showcased the multifaceted aspects of pre-hospital emergency medicine (PHEM) to medical and paramedic students.

Shayda Karimi, a doctor with LNAA put the special day together for trainee doctors and paramedics to gain an insight of working within the Air Ambulance environment. PHEM is rarely included in medical school or foundation curricula meaning fewer junior doctors and medical students choose this area of medicine as a career option.

Shayda was delighted with the enthusiasm shown by the delegates. She said: “It’s great to see our future HEMS doctors and paramedics working together and taking their first steps into this rewarding and challenging career.”

The simulations illustrate the difficulties pre-hospital critical care teams face when treating patients at the scene of an incident and highlight the differences to treating patients in hospitals. The students were also given a tour of the helicopter to see vast array of specialist equipment carried on each mission.

Hana Holder, a Year Four medical student at Lincoln University who has an interest in trauma medicine had not realised that there were careers in HEMS medicine before attending the day.

“Practising real life scenarios is not something that I had done before and the simulations brought to life the importance of teamwork. The doctors and paramedics shared their knowledge on how to deal with trauma at the roadside which has really built on my knowledge.

It made me realise how rewarding working in a PHEM environment is and I would now consider working for an air ambulance in the future.”

Hana Holder, Year Four medical student at Lincoln University.

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