Equestrian
Island Ambulance Service 624 crew with Steve in centre in 1996
paramedic :
25 Years in the job
From Saturday night cliffhangers on the BBC ’ s Casualty to the more gritty real-life rescue programmes and fly-on-the-wall documentaries - it seems that Britons have become obsessed with viewing scenes of life in the emergency services . But one man who knows all about it from the sharp end is former Island paramedic Steve Goodchild . Here he tells us about his 25 years in the life-saving service .
It may be an everyday term nowadays , but in fact the word ‘ paramedic ’ was virtually unknown when Steve Goodchild began training for the ambulance service in 1990 . Back then , there were ambulance men or women – and their job was largely to ferry the sick and injured to hospital , where more experienced medical personnel could take over . Now , improved skills and technology have led to a situation where the paramedic is sufficiently highly-trained and has a whole range of equipment and drugs on hand , to begin medical treatment right on the spot . For Steve , it has meant witnessing some huge changes in the service over the
30 www . visitilife . com