Dee's Journey - HART Paramedic

Dee Mencarini is a hazardous area response team (HART) paramedic who has been with EEAST for seven years.

Having worked in healthcare for around 15 years, I decided to go to university to study paramedic science and graduated in 2017. Once I had worked as a paramedic in Waveney for three years, I was ready for a new challenge and to expand on my clinical experience.

Working within HART has given me a multitude of skills. Teams are made up of around six paramedics within the live team at any one time. This requires effective communication and teamwork. We are sent to incidents that may involve hazardous conditions such as water rescues, working at height, firearms incidents and working in confined space. All of which we are trained to work in.

We also work as paramedics within frontline operations, assisting crews, at their request, and formulate plans alongside the first clinicians on scene. Some of the physical requirements of my role are demanding and mentally challenging, though with team support, a good level of fitness and self-awareness, these challenges can be well managed.

I enjoy the changing environments and incorporating dynamic risk assessments which include the training we have had adds layers of actions to consider. We have daily training as well as a training week within our seven-week rota, so our skills are constantly refreshed. There are opportunities to train to become instructors within many of the competencies, which is a fantastic opportunity to develop. These elements to the speciality really contribute towards feeling valued and invested in as part of a workforce, which I consider to be extremely important for staff retention.

The biggest challenge I faced during my training as a HART paramedic was to become a Mod 4 swift water rescue technician. I had never been a fan of swimming (did everything I could to get out of PE at school!), but I could swim enough to get by. When I was sent to Wales to begin my initial training, I was quite scared! I got through it and decided to face my fears by starting sea swimming where I live. I discovered that I’d been missing out during 20 years of living by the coast - and now I look forward to water rescue training a lot!

I would advise anyone considering a career working within the Trust that there is a lot of pressure associated with the ambulance service, but if you enjoy being challenged, and you have a good work ethic, then your colleagues are the people that can really help you to love your job. I am proud to serve my community alongside amazing clinicians; all of whom are focused and committed to making sure the patients we see are at the centre of our care.