Emergency Care Assistants work alongside paramedics and are part of emergency ambulance crews sent in response to 999 calls.
Emergency Care Assistants support patients with potentially life saving care and where needed, take patients to hospital for further treatment.
Emergency Care Assistants attend many different types of accident and emergency and use expert emergency driving skills to reach the scene as quickly and as safely as possible.
Working life
Emergency Care Assistants work under the direct supervision of paramedics and carry out emergency care including controlling severe bleeding, treating wounds, and fractures and looking after patients with possible spinal injuries. You may have to use a defibrillator to resuscitate patients with heart failure and will be provided training so that you are able to deliver medications.
Emergency Care Assistants have to respond to life-threatening situations and many of these can be distressing and stressful involving those who are seriously injured or traumatised. You may have to attend road accidents, heart attacks, elderly people who have experienced falls, domestic violence situations or very sick babies being transported for further care.
As well as working with paramedics, Emergency Care Assistants also work with other members of the ambulance service, such as control room staff. They will also work with doctors and with staff from the other emergency services, including fire and rescue services and the police.
Requirements
Becoming an Emergency Care Assistant has no set entry requirements, but NHS and Social Care employers will expect good literacy and numeracy as these are an important part of working as part of the Ambulance Service. Depending on the role, some employers may ask for GCSEs or equivalent qualifications. When applying for a role as an Emergency Care Assistant, there may be other skills or qualifications required but this will depend on the role and the team in which the role sits.
You will also be required to have a full manual driving licence to be able to drive the ambulance and if you passed your driving test after 1996, you will be required to undertake a further driving qualification for larger vehicles and to carry passengers.
Employers may also require you to have some relevant work experience or knowledge of having worked in a similar role previously. If you are considering a role as an Emergency Care Assistant, it is a good idea if you can demonstrate where you have previously worked or volunteered in a role within a customer service environment.
Working as an Emergency Care Assistant will provide further opportunities to develop your career through apprenticeships and internal training and there are sometimes other ways to access employment as an Emergency Care Assistant such as traineeships or internships depending on the Trust you work for.
Personal characteristics
To work successfully within the Ambulance Service team, you need to consider your own personal characteristics. You would need to have the following attributes or similar:
- Be accurate and methodical and have good attention to detail
- Be able to assess a situation quickly
- Be resilient and prepared to go into unknown or unpredictable situations
- Be able to work as part of a team but also able to use your own initiative
- Be willing to follow procedures and take instruction from senior team members
- Be able to work with all people from various backgrounds with different experiences
- Be able to stay calm under pressure
- Have good conflict management skills as some of those who you attend to will be distressed, angry or scared
- Have strong communication skills
- Have strong IT and digital skills
Skills required
To work successfully with the Ambulance Service, you need to consider the skills that you have. You would need to demonstrate the following:
- Be well organised and able to plan your time
- Be able to communicate with a variety of people using different methods
- Have positive customer service skills
- Be patient, caring and kind
- Be able to reassure those who may be anxious, scared, angry or distressed
- Be able to manage challenging behaviour
- Be able to make decisions
- Be able to verbalise complicated information and ensure this is understood
Training and development opportunities
When you begin to work as an Emergency Care Assistant, you will receive the training you require to be able to undertake the role successfully. You will receive an induction which will introduce you to the department you will be working in, will support you in accessing the IT systems and will ensure you are aware of the policies and procedures you will be required to follow in the undertaking of your role. You will also have to complete any statutory and mandatory training that your employer requires such as fire training, data security training and customer service.
As part of your initial training, you will be required to take training in moving and handling, first aid, basic patient skills and safe driving techniques. Some of these training programmes will require practical assessments and written exams.
Before you can work unsupervised, you will be required to work under the guidance of a trained supervisor.
Career development opportunities
Once you have experience working as an Emergency Care Assistant, there are many other roles you could progress into. You could lead a team, become a supervisor or develop your career into management. You could also transfer into other specialist healthcare roles such as becoming a paramedic once you have achieved the requirements of this role.
Pay and benefits
Emergency Care Assistants usually work 37.5 hours per week and you will be required to work shifts, nights, evenings, weekends and bank holidays.
Emergency Care Assistants in the NHS are paid using the Agenda for Change (AfC) system and Emergency Care Assistants will typically start their career on AfC band 3 or 4 but with experience, further training and additional qualifications, can progress further up the pay scale.
Other benefits of working within the Ambulance Service include access to a pension scheme, health service discounts such as a Blue Light Card and 27 days of annual leave in addition to bank holidays.