Paramedic graduates from AUT are leading the frontline fight against the Covid-19 pandemic in Britain.
About 35 students who have previously worked with South Western Ambulance Service Foundation and Trust (SWASFT) have answered the call of duty to help bolster numbers as they work in Europe’s worst hit nation.
Based in Bournemouth, Ryan Ottaway’s worked at the hub for two years and says since the outbreak he’s seen a lot of covid cases.
"It was overwhelming at the start I'm not going to lie, we're quite far in now and you know you kind of get use to it and put your own concerns to the back of your mind," said the 29-year-old.
He’s well aware saving lives now carries bigger risks and the culture of safety has heightened as staff don protective gear and then decontaminate and deep clean vehicles after every call out.
"Heart attack and strokes do happen and patients are very, very scared to call us because they don’t want us, asymptomatic to carry the disease in to their house and they don’t want to be exposed and go to hospital".
Bella Williams, a former Piha lifeguard also from Auckland, is a new graduate and one of the youngest helping in the fight
"All our training obviously, we're prepared for terrorist attacks, we're prepared for stabbings and everything but we're definitely not trained to fight a global pandemic".
The 22-year-old explained that paramedics are using different care pathways for their patients to ensure they’re safely managed at home if hospital is not the appropriate place for them.
"I think the hardest thing is deciding who deserves to be taken to hospital and who therefore has good quality of life and deserves a bed over someone who can stay at home".
Andy Wade, Learning and Development Officer for SWASFT says the UK has a number of skill shortages and recruits a number of Kiwi paramedics to deliver care in areas where they’re needed.
He ensures Kiwis are settled and looked after when they arrive.
Several Kiwi graduates on the frontline sent through video clips with messages of thanks to all the support they’re receiving from home and in return joined the growing chorus of praise for New Zealand’s swift response to the spread of the virus, but wanted to remind those back home now is not the time to be complacent.
"Keep listening to the Government, don’t go back completely to societal norms just yet, act like you could catch it, you need to act like you have it yourselves," cautioned Mr Ottaway.
"There is a risk for a secondary spike and while you’re not experiencing the death toll where we are here, this virus is very very real and so many lives have been lost," warned Ms Williams.
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