Beyond the Sirens

A series of six 30 minute podcasts for anyone working as a paramedic, in end of life care or wanting to know more about the subject.

The series brings together a wealth of knowledge from seasoned professionals in the field of paramedic and end-of-life care. We’ve incorporated real-life examples, top tips and strategies to make the content relatable and practical for you. Check out the details of each episode below.

We hope you find the series useful, let us know what you think: info@eolp.org.uk.

You can search for the podcasts on your podcast app by searching for ‘Beyond the Sirens ‘, or, to access directly, click here

You can also find them on our YouTube channel at: Beyond the Sirens 

Exploring Palliative and End of Life Care for Paramedics 

We look at the difference between palliative and end of life care, to understand what the aims of End of Life care are, and how there is a different mindset required from paramedics in this role.

With

Dan Platt, Parademic: North West Ambulance Service and

Dr Kathryn Gaunt, Palliative Medicine Consultant: East Cheshire NHS trust

The Value of Effective Communication Skills in Palliative Care 

Explore how vital communication skills are and the key aspects that make communication effective in often pressured situations. These include “Taking your time” and “Asking the right questions”.  

With

Dr Karen Groves, Education Lead, Queenscourt Hospice and Honorary Clinical Professor, Edge Hill University

The Concept of Total Pain in Palliative Care

Mary and Tessa discuss the concept of Total Pain, sharing through their extensive experience examples of different types of pain and how vital it is in caring for the whole person.  

With

Tessa Taylor, Practice Educator: End of Life Partnership

Mary Buttle, Practice Educator: End of Life Partnership

Decision Making in the moment

Information such as DNACPR is sometimes not available when attending a patient. Sensitive information therefore needs to be gathered in a short space of time, and hard decisions made in the moment. We cover in this episode: 

• Natural Dying v Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR)
• EPACC explained
• Advance Care Planning (ACP)
• What to do in the absence of any source of information
• Case Studies 

With

Rob Whelan, Community Specialist Paramedic (Advanced Care Pratitioner Wirral): North West Ambulance Service

Keiran Potts, Community Specialist Paramedic – Regional Lead for End of Life Care: North West Ambulance Service

Interview Edward O’Brian Macmillan Paramedic

We are joined by Ed O’Brian from the Welsh Ambulance Service who discusses the inspiring innovations that he has developed and introduced to better support patients accessing the ambulance service at the end of life. These include introducing just in case medications onto ambulances to help ensure better symptom control, the introduction of an end-of-life care rapid transport service to convey dying patients to their preferred place of death, a wish ambulance service to help dying patients experience a meaningful journey, and the introduction of the UKs first palliative care paramedics. 

With

Edward O’Brian, Macmillan Parademic: Clinical Lead Palliative and End of Life Care: Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Topical areas of Practice in End of Life Care for Paramedics

In the course of your career you will come across Palliative care emergencies. This episode looks at:

• Catastrophic haemorrhage
• Neutropenic sepsis
• JR Calc metastatic spinal cord compression 
• Superior venacava compression
• Hypercalcaemia
• Home v. hospital for patients, including family concerns

With

Rob Whelan, Community Specialist Paramedic (Advanced Care Pratitioner Wirral): North West Ambulance Service

Keiran Potts, Community Specialist Paramedic – Regional Lead for End of Life Care: North West Ambulance Service

You can search for the podcasts on your podcast app by searching for ‘Beyond the Sirens ‘, or, to access directly, click here

You can also find them on our YouTube channel at: Beyond the Sirens 

Thanks to Vista Health for their help in this project Vista Health.