College of Paramedics’ National Conference started today at the Nottingham Belfry with the theme of “Tackling the Future Together” to discuss the future of the science of saving lives under pressure.

College of Paramedics’ Annual General Meeting also took place on the first day of the conference.

The conference includes over 30 presenters, and presents networking opportunities in addition to poster presentations and CPD certificates.

First day of the two-day event opened with the welcome address of Tracy Nicholls, Chief Executive of College of Paramedics.

DC Daley Jones and PC Carl Mumford (Metropolitan Police Service) talked about the impact of ADHD across the emergency services. They shared their stories of being diagnosed late in life and how they came to terms with being neurodiverse. 

Rebecca Connolly, Consultant ACP Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, gave the Mark Bloch Lecture: The Deteriorating Patient Inside the Hospital – Challenges of a Consultant Advanced Clinical Practitioner (ACP).

Tracy Nicholls, Chief Executive, College of Paramedics alongside John Martin, President, College of Paramedics and Rory O’Connor, Chair, College of Paramedics facilitated a topical discussion that engages the conference attendees under the title of “Tackling the Future Together”.

Kirsty Lowery-Richardson, Head of Education, College of Paramedics spoke about how the paramedics community can better support the student paramedics under the title of Contemporary Paramedicine: Meeting Tomorrow’s Needs.

And Georgette Eaton, NIHR research Doctoral Research Fellow and Advanced Paramedic, and Lawrence Hill, Programme Lead – Paramedic Science, UEA, took delegates through a fascinating discussion on paramedic identity under the title of “A Paramedic Pledge”.

The introduction to the pledge stated: “The paramedic profession is developing at pace, moving into new clinical practice settings with evolving scopes of practice and roles.

“This expansion of the paramedic role presents a risk of existential crisis without understanding ‘the deeper philosophical concern regarding the essence of paramedic practice’ (O’Meara, 2011).

“As the profession continues to develop, it is recognised that paramedics must be able to form ‘a professional identity that is broader and more sophisticated than traditional models’ (Woollard, 2006) to avoid conflation with other disciplines.”

Tom Goodwin, Advanced Paramedic, Clinical Lead, Hatzola Manchester & North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust presented an introduction into what the Hatzola Ambulance Service is as a volunteer ambulance service, internationally and in the U.K. and a short history of the journey the service has been on and what its success and challenges are.   

The second day of the conference will be as full as the first day with valuable insights from paramedics as well as interesting discussions.

You can see the full programme here.