It was hard to know exactly what to expect as I arrived at St John Ambulance & Rescue Service’s headquarters on the Rohais for a morning on the job with some of the island’s lifesavers ahead of International Paramedics Day.
For paramedics working at Ambulance & Rescue, no two working days are ever the same – with a seemingly endless list of possible jobs to go to, emergency call-outs to attend, and people to meet.
I was warmly greeted by Ambulance & Rescue paramedic and communications officer Jim Cathcart at reception and introduced to the frontline team, including paramedics but also those aspiring to be a paramedic one day, including emergency medical technicians and care assistants.
Fortunately there were no emergencies first thing, which gave duty officer Sonia Guille the chance to brief her colleagues – including two from Ambulance & Rescue’s base in Alderney via video link – about their upcoming shift.
A total of 22 paramedics make up the 42 full-time ambulance staff across the emergency and non-emergency service in Guernsey, with Alderney also stationing four crew members.
They are responsible for the emergency ambulance service, the non-emergency patient transfer service, and the Flying Christine marine ambulance, which was called out to both Sark and Herm just in the last few days.
Mr Cathcart was keen to emphasise just how unpredictable a day at Ambulance & Rescue could be.
‘One day last week we responded to 29 calls in 24 hours, and our overall record is 36, those days you just don’t stop,’ he said.
‘But some shifts we might only get one call.’
The service responds to about 7,000 emergency and urgent calls a year, as well as 3,000 non-emergency patient transfers.
Its daily number of calls so far this year averages out at 18, matching the mean for the whole of 2024.
Last month a total of 570 calls were responded to – about 19 a day.
A quiet-ish early part of the morning meant some routine but no-less-vital administration tasks could be completed.
Checks of stock and drugs, and the deep cleaning of the ambulances, ensured they were ready to leave at a moment’s notice.
Each ambulance’s equipment is the same, meaning staff always know where to look for what, no matter which vehicle they find themselves in.
‘Paramedics in Guernsey tend to have more advanced skills than those in the UK,’ paramedic Emily Baudains explained as she gave me a detailed rundown of one of the ambulances’ interiors.
‘All staff are trained in basic and intermediate life support, while paramedics are trained in advanced life support as well.’
After visits to the station’s drug and equipment store and training room, which is equipped with mannequins that staff use monthly to practice their airway and intubation training, the team received their first call of the day from the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre.
A category four call – the least urgent type – had come in from GreenAcres care home in St Martin’s.
A category four call is not life-threatening, and means the team will aim to be there within two hours.
A more urgent category three sees staff aiming to be on the scene within half an hour, while a category two call requires a blue light response with a 14-minute response target. A category one is for immediately life-threatening injuries and illnesses, with an eight-minute response window.
The non-urgent nature of the GreenAcres call meant I was given the green light to hop in the back of one of the ambulances and tag along as Miss Baudains and her colleague, trainee emergency medical technician Mimi Le Flocq, headed over to the care home.
A resident had fallen and suffered a suspected upper leg injury, and was unable to stand.
Miss Baudains and Miss Le Flocq made some initial physical observations and liaised with care home staff as to the patient’s general condition, before carefully transferring them into a stretcher, wheeling them out of the building and into the ambulance.
Mr Cathcart, who had followed behind us in a paramedic car, explained that good communication between Ambulance & Rescue staff and care colleagues, including those in primary care, at care homes or at the other emergency services, was paramount in ascertaining the condition of a patient.
‘80% of the job is clear communication, ensuring that transfer between services goes as smoothly as possible is so important,’ he said.
Upon arrival at the Emergency Department, Miss Baudains and Miss Le Flocq commenced handover of the patient to ED staff, including passing-on key details and the cleaning of the stretcher in preparation for the next job.
The next job came in almost instantaneously, a category one call to a life-threatening case.
‘We aim to get 75% of our category one calls within that eight-minute window,’ Mr Cathcart said.
Such cases carry a high degree of sensitivity, and I was eager to know how staff dealt with witnessing a death or serious illness or injury.
Mr Cathcart said it got easier with experience.
‘It’s a sad, but inevitable part of the job, luckily we are a very close-knit team, almost like a family.
‘We encourage those who have witnessed something difficult to talk about it, that’s often the best way to process it and move on.’
Almost at the end of what was a fascinating morning, I asked him about the most rewarding aspects of Ambulance & Rescue’s work.
‘I suppose it’s the feeling that you’re genuinely helping the community and making a difference to people’s lives,’ he said.
‘That’s what International Paramedics Day is actually about – acknowledging the role paramedics play, the support they give each other and their communities, and how they come together to deliver the best possible care to those who need it.’
‘It really does feel like one big family at times’
The close-knit relationship with her colleagues at Ambulance & Rescue is one of paramedic Emily Baudains’ greatest professional joys.
Now six years qualified, Miss Baudains first got a passion for paramedicine while volunteering at the St John’s shop for her Duke of Edinburgh award.
‘I was able to observe quite a lot, that’s what got me interested,’ she said.
After undertaking a three-year paramedic science degree at the University of Hertfordshire, including a placement in Watford, Miss Baudains qualified as a paramedic in 2019. She then worked for five years in Chichester, before returning home to Guernsey last June.
She said the biggest difference between the work locally and in the UK was how closely care teams in Guernsey worked together.
‘It’s much closer over here, you see the same people far more regularly and you almost know who you’re going to be working with.
‘I prefer it like that, to be honest, it really does feel like one big family at times.’
She said her favourite part of her job was the range of different people she met, as well as the ‘rewarding’ nature of her work.
‘It’s hard dealing with the sadder cases but knowing you’re helping and trying to make a positive difference is satisfying.
‘Every job stays with you in some way, but being able to talk things through with colleagues and having that trust is invaluable.’
International Paramedics Day
Launched in 2022 by the College of Paramedics, International Paramedics Day takes place on 8 July each year, marking the anniversary of the birth of Dominique-Jean Larrey, often referred to as the father of modern-day ambulance services.
This year’s theme of ‘Unity and Community’ aims to highlight the power of teamwork and collaboration among paramedics and first responders worldwide.
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