Link up helps Welsh paramedic training

A link up between Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust (WAST) and Wales & West Utilities has led to thirty paramedic students undertaking vital training in a realistic setting.

WAST turned to Wales & West Utilities as it sought to put aspiring senior paramedics through their paces. With the gas networks’ Treforest Academy one of the few places in the country to mimic a ‘street’ environment, trainees took part in realistic training exercises in an authentic urban environment.

Over the course of the four days, WAST took 30 paramedic students through a range of practical assessments on tasks such as administering drugs and responding to cardiac arrests in an urban environment.

WAST Clinical Lead, David Thomas, explains:

“We need to educate our paramedics in a realistic setting and Wales & West Utilities Treforest Academy is one of the few places in the country with a ‘street’ that is completely under cover, which allows us to use our equipment in an ‘outdoor’ setting, without running the risk of it getting wet.

“That’s crucial for us. The doll we use to simulate a patient has a pulse rate and can breathe on its own. It costs more than £20,000 and would get damaged in the rain.”

All attendees adhered to standard risk assessments, while each of the trainees and instructors have had two vaccine doses and carry out two lateral flow tests a week.

Wales & West Utilities Training Centre Manager, Christopher Pugh, added:

“We use our Treforest Academy to develop the gas engineers of the future, and we’re pleased to be able to support WAST in training their paramedics too. The street scene provides a safe and realistic environment for essential training, while giving gas engineers and paramedics alike a genuine sense of what their future roles will involve.”

Wales & West Utilities, the gas emergency and pipeline service, brings energy to 7.5m people across the south west of England and Wales, If you smell gas, or suspect the presence of carbon monoxide, call us on 0800 111 999 straight away, and our engineers will be there to help any time of day or night. Before visiting, we’ll ask you to let us know if you or anyone in your household, is experiencing Coronavirus symptoms or self-isolating. We’ll still come and help you: but our teams will take some additional precautions to keep us all safe.