Blue Light Driving Licience

nebler

Hi , guys,
I am currently training to be a Paramedic through a university degree and have one more year to go. Blue light training is not part of the course and I have to finance it myself, costing up to £3500.

Does anyone know where to start looking for finacial help, either loans or grants?

cheers

creeping_jesus

Hi, just found abit of info for you:

Blue Light & Emergency Response Driver Training is only available to emergency service drivers - police drivers, ambulance drivers (private and public) and fire service drivers. This may also include coastguard, mines & mountain rescue drivers or those involved in similar emergency response positions.
Anyone who is not qualified to do blue light training by virtue of their employment (or voluntary position) cannot receive Blue Light Driver Training.
Most emergency response training is carried out in house by police, fire service or NHS driver trainers, though there are more private ambulance and fire services and some voluntary sector response teams whose drivers have blue light driving allowances and exemptions. These drivers must be trained by a fully qualified ADI. Police driver trainers are now also encouraged to become DSA ADIs.

You have to be already employed and will be trained in house, so I doubt you will find a private company willing to train you without employment as a paramedic already.

Person_one

Wait until you get a job after qualifying. The ambulance trusts know what they're getting from the unis! It will probably be part of your preceptorship year.

If you're still concerned talk to a tutor.

nebler

thanks guys, the only problem i can see is a lot of trusts want you to have the blue licience before you apply for a job with them, and I am able to take the course before employment due to the fact I am a Para student.
Another benifit to gaining the licience now is I could work bank as an ECA alongside the Paramedics, gaining experiance and some wages whilst I am still at uni.

creeping_jesus

Which uni are you at & which course, and which trusts have you been looking at so far?

"Staff who are employed as ECPs will be experienced and qualified practitioners who have received additional training"
This is from the NHS careers website, so I take it to mean that you can't do that whilst doing your degree.

nebler

ECA not ECP. Emergency care assistant, who work alongside paramedics.
I'm at Plymouth uni and looking at SWAST for employment if possible.

creeping_jesus

nebler wrote: »

ECA not ECP. Emergency care assistant, who work alongside paramedics.
I'm at Plymouth uni and looking at SWAST for employment if possible.

Sorry, my bad, I have terrible eyesight!

nebler

Lol, no worries.

tanith

I know this is off topic but I'm curious, do Ambulance Services really employ Paramedics straight out of uni with no on the job experience? I'm assuming that as they want then to come with Blue Light training that means they go straight on the road .

Person_one

tanith wrote: »

I know this is off topic but I'm curious, do Ambulance Services really employ Paramedics straight out of uni with no on the job experience? I'm assuming that as they want then to come with Blue Light training that means they go straight on the road .

The uni course for paramedics includes about 50% placement time with qualified paramedics as mentors.

They aren't thrown straight out on their own with an ambulance and a de-fib on day one either, they usually have a structured preceptorship year and work with a more experienced paramedic at first.

nebler

Yeh as above.
Still a scary time though, and the preceptorship isn't always very long, it depends on the trust.