Hato Hone St John critical care paramedics Pat Bain and Jenetta Johnson are part of a small team who go to the city's most serious incidents. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH First responder Jenetta Johnson loves her job — even if half her patients do not remember her. As a critical care paramedic, Miss Johnson is dispatched in a critical emergency, and naturally the people she attends to often never remember her being there. She drives a rapid response vehicle — a ute — to and from jobs, as opposed to an ambulance. ‘‘People definitely have no idea what we’re about — a lot of them don’t know that we’re a critical key unit, and they’re not aware of what we can do.’’ Miss Johnson is not dispatched to low-acuity incidents, but she can self-dispatch if wait times for an ambulance are rather large. That brings a new set of challenges. Miss Johnson has a rehearsed spiel to explain to people why she was there instead of an ambulance, and why she may need to take off at a moment’s notice. ‘‘We have to say ‘I’ve seen that you’ve been waiting, and I’ve popped out to see if I can help, but I am the critical care unit, so if a job comes in where someone is very unwell, I will have to head away’.’’ Inside a rapid response vehicle, Miss Johnson carries specialised equipment not found in a standard ambulance, including a more diverse range of medications, ventilator and intubation equipment, syringe drivers to supply infusions of medication and a mechanical CPR machine. They also carry equipment for ambulances that they may need but do not always carry such as stab-proof vests, extra equipment in case they needed restocking, and mass-casualty drop boxes, which are used in an incident when there is a large number of patients. There are between six and seven critical care paramedics in Dunedin. ‘‘It is quite an extensive process to become a critical care paramedic now: there is at least five years of fulltime study to do, and you need to have on-road experience.’’ The process is to complete a three-year bachelor’s degree, an internship as an emergency medical technician, become a paramedic and get at least 18 months’ on-the-job experience. Then you complete a two-year postgraduate diploma and another internship before finally becoming a critical care paramedic. However, Miss Johnson did not want anyone to be scared off by the list of requirements, especially as yesterday was world paramedic day. The end result was more than a reward. ‘‘I love my job ... it’s an amazingly rewarding position and there’s a huge amount of opportunities for people who want to get into it nowadays ... and we definitely need more people.’’ laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
