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Mon Aug 11 21:50:24 BST 2008

Hi Tug,

An interesting topic - I hope you get people discussing this. For what it's worth here are a few thoughts which may get a discussion going - I'm not saying that I have any answers (too old and daft for that) but lets see what happens:

I have 2 members of staff at my ambulance station who are also retained firefighters and there has never been a problem. Within the Trust that I work for there are a number of EMT's and Paramedics who are retained as firefighters and again, as far as I am aware, there have not been any problems.

If a member of staff is working on an ambulance or an RRV they undertake a 'medical' role, they do not have specialised rescue gear available to them and, when such gear arrives (with the Fire & Rescue Service) there are fire personnel who are 'suited and booted' in the correct safety gear to use it.

Dual role staff (particularly when known to the fire crews) can be extremely useful in a liaison role - having a foot in both camps means that they can speak the right language to both Services, can see potential problems before they occur and generally encourage good inter-service co-operation .

If dual role personnel are working as firefighters then they have a responsibility to ensure that any treatment that they provide to patients is in line with their clinical ability. I do not suggest that they should carry a massive bag that replicates the equipment found on an ambulance, but that they should apply their training and knowledge to ensure that patients receive the best care possible under the circumstances - with the trauma training that is now being undertaken by fire personnel this isn't (or hasn't been on jobs that I have been to) a big problem, but they are in a perfect position to give advice if needed.

I am sure that there are people out there who can think of situations where there may be a conflict of interest - let's get them written down and see where this topic goes.

As to the rest of your message - I'm not dual trained so can't comment on a lot of it but, if you find a way of keeping politics out of this sort of situation write the book - you'll also be on every Chief Exec's Xmas card list!

Regards,

G. Chilton SRpara
IHCD Instructor
General Dogs Body

> From: tuganddawn at talktalk.net> To: trauma-list at trauma.org> Subject: Dual Role Personnel> Date: Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:52:15 +0100> > Hello everyone,> > I am trying to ascertain what sort of dual/multi-role personnel we have working in pre-hospital care, specifically critical care and trauma.> I am a paramedic and firefighter and have issues with my ambulance service who, for no specific reason as yet, dislike my role as a firefighter.> Are any of you in a similar position or do you have a blissfully harmonious life of dual role leisure.> Would anybody be interested in an organisation representing those people who do have potentially conflicting or multiple roles e.g tactical firearms officers, MERIT teams, SAR winchmen etc. The idea being to pool some form of resource for making sure that such unique and specialised individuals can have a proper impact on procedure, prevent political interference and share ideas?> Look forward to hearing any thoughts on this. Though not specifically related to a trauma case individuals like me are constantly having to reassess incidents from several angles with the potential to not only intervene medically but to provide specialist rescue techniques that could ultimately imrpove outcome.> > Thanks and kindest regards> > FF Tug Crumpton SRpara.> --> trauma-list : TRAUMA.ORG> To change your settings or unsubscribe visit:> http://www.trauma.org/index.php?/community/
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