Sorry to inject some cynicism here, but I encountered quite a lot of 
"fringe" practitioners during 15 years working in London. Rowley can 
probably back me up on this one too.

It seems to be quite common for those who fail to make the grade for the 
ambulance service to indulge their fantasies in private companies, to the 
detriment of patients. I do not include VAS volunteers in this category, 
because most do not want to be full-time ambulance staff and have other 
jobs, yet they strive for decent standards in ambulance work. St John and 
the Red Cross, by and large, would not tolerate cowboys anyway.

I cannot think of ANY justification for a VAS crew to hand over an emergency 
case to a private company for management or transport to hospital. The DoH 
issued guidelines for private companies (1994-5) obliging them to call the 
statutory ambulance service in emergency cases and restricting them to 
non-emergency work, yet these companies take not a blind bit of notice. 
Conversely, the statutory service can officially build in VAS as part of the 
planned response to public events, and use them as resources in Major 
Incidents (see sect 4.5 of the new NHS Executive guidance "Planning for 
Major Incidents"). Ambulance services are encouraged to develop joint 
standards of competency with VAS.

Sorry, I know there are some well-meaning individuals from companies out 
there, but I still question the need for you to dabble in emergency care. If 
the statutory ambulance service and VAS are failing to provide adequate 
event cover, then that is the problem to be fixed, and privateers are not a 
solution.

Rob Cocks ( ex LAS Medical Advisory group and LAS Paramedic steering 
comittee)
Hong Kong



 ----------
From: acad-ae-med-request
To: acad-ae-med
Subject: How do we know ?
Date: Thursday, February 11, 1999 2:30AM

A question to all our medical and paramedical collegues

As a member of the VAS (first aid, AED, 'medical gas', ambulance aid)
treating a casualty on or off a public duty I am quite willing to seek
advice from, and pass a patient to a more qualified person, however
given the recent press on bogus paramedics / doctors and a minority of
'dodgy' private companies how do I know if I am passing to a
professional or a fake?

Are there questions we should ask of private companies (with whom we
share some duties) to check their status and qualifications and skill?

If someone claims to be a doctor and wants to examine a casualty how can
we be sure they are genuine - is there any ID (I guess BASICS medics
would carry one) or PIN number we can take for further 'come back' -
should we get an address etc?

If I pass a casualty to a 'paramedic' company in whom I am not confident
do I have any liability for any ill treatment (should I 'stop and fight'
and call the 999 ambulance service?

No disrespect to the reputable private paramedics out there - it's a
case of bad apples I'm afraid.


Ian Davies
VAS volunteer and trainer

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%