Ambulance Driver or Paramedic?

Tuning in to patient care from the driving seat

As paramedics, whilst we often take great offence at being called ambulance drivers, the question is, when it’s our turn to drive, what exactly is it that we are providing?

Do we fully engage in shared patient care with our attending partner, or do we switch off so that we can simply drive the ambulance and take it easy?

With so many countries and jurisdictions now regulated, or about to be, we are beginning to see considerable change in how paramedics operate within (as well as how we ourselves view) both attending and driving roles.

For some, this is likely to be welcomed, but for others, it may prove an unexpected stressor, as those “driver mode” days are well and truly over.

In the prehospital environment, there’s no doubt about it, someone has to drive when a patient needs to be transported to definitive care. If that someone happens to be a registered paramedic, however, as is often the case, it is expected that their involvement is not limited to sitting behind the wheel, driving from one location to another.

In many countries and regions, paramedics are described as “practitioners” throughout registration or other officially regulated documentation. This title comes with it…