The University Diaries

I made it ten months frontline before I caught coronavirus. I had also just had the first dose of my vaccine. I want to complain about how annoying that is but I am trying really hard to be grateful. I am trying my absolute hardest not to whine (shoutout to my instagram followers who have already listened to me whine).  Here are the events leading up to, during and after my coronavirus experience. C - 7 days It is my second and final shift of two days at work before a long weekend off. I'm working with a lovely paramedic who I have worked with a few times recently, she has just come back from work after having coronavirus over Christmas. She says she was not too unwell, just a little bit grotty and she enjoyed having Christmas off and an excuse not to do too much. She said she was really lucky that she was not too unwell. Our first job (out of area) but the village I used to live in. A fall with a head injury, the patient was on anticoagulants also was consistently complaining of c...

Here is a brutally honest review of my first day on the road as an NQP (not third manning). I definitely was not expecting it to start off how it did, but the day still went well. Enjoy! 5am - Alarm went off. Early mornings are not too bad for me anymore, I had got very used to getting up at 4.15am for my 6am starts and hour commute so 5am basically feels like a lie-in nowadays. I got up, got dressed, kitted my pockets with the masses of stuff I hold in my pockets and put the kettle on. I made mine and my boyfriends breakfast, packing mine in my bag (yogurt, fruit and oats) and sipped my tea. I retreated upstairs to put on some make-up, brush my hair and teeth and pack my bag.  6am - Left for work, very nervous. Since I found out I was on this shift I had been nervous in case I was working with someone entirely unqualified that I could not bat ideas off. I tried to calm my nerves with some music on my 45 minute drive to station. 6.45am - Arrived at my station. I really like this sa...

I've now had two years to badly prepare myself for night shifts. I have done it lots of different ways rightly and wrongly, but this is the way that works best for me! On my days off I try to bulk cook some food and portion it up so I always have a food option for me. I currently do not have much money and picking up unplanned snacks can really break the bank. I also try to get up on laundry, but I only wash laundry at night as we have an economy 7 meter which means I pay less for electric overnight. This makes it difficult as I do not spend a whole day doing laundry... It is a constant slog! 6am I get up nice and early normally anyway, but definitely on night shifts when I am aiming for an afternoon nap. I get up, get dressed (this is so, so important to set yourself in the mood for a productive day!) and have breakfast. Then I will wash up and make sure the house is in order. 7.30am Time to write a to do list! My most productive days are where I write lists that have smal...

Hi, just as a little intro I am a second year Paramedic Science degree student, currently on my first placement of Year Two. The featured day is a brisk Saturday in November on a placement shift with a crew that I have not worked with before. Most of my shifts are either earlies (starting between 6 and 7am for 12 hours) or lates (starting between 6 and 7pm for 12 hours). This was a weird shift time of 1100 to 2300, which is annoying as it straddles two meal times as you only get one meal break. Surprisingly enough, I actually quite liked this time, however I do prefer really early shifts as you still have a bit of the evening when you get home. This account is completely true! The variety of patients fluctuates day to day, and this was one of the more interesting ones, but this may also be as it was a Saturday. The times are as close to accurate as possible. We had fewer patients than a usual shift, but travelling times and patient contact time was greater than normal. We did no...