Paramedic flies the nest

One of the paramedics at the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance Service in the UK has flown his last mission for the charity and is packing his bags, before he heads back to the ground-ambulance crew at the South East Coast Ambulance Service. Mick Carter is the charity's second longest serving paramedic in the charity's history. Carter, who is 34 years old and lives in Medway with his wife, will now be based at the Folkestone Ambulance Station after serving five years at the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance bases at Marden in Kent and Dunsfold on the Surrey/Sussex border. Since joining the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) charity in October 2004, Carter says his skills as a paramedic have become much more acute: "They're sharper and so much more advanced - I put it down to working closely with clinicians associated with the HEMS community, being exposed to extreme incidents and injuries on a regular basis, I've also had consistent, first class training - it's really been a phenomenal experience." With this in mind, Carter says he is determined to put his highly tuned skills to good use as a paramedic with the land based critical care ambulance units: "I see the next chapter of my career as my opportunity to help others improve their skills and knowledge. I've been given a great opportunity to drive the paramedic profession forward within the critical care program. My time at the air ambulance service will hopefully allow me to make a difference. I've been exposed to a lot of acute pre-hospital critical care in the HEMS environment. I want to take that experience to improve patient care throughout the counties and therefore benefit the patient that may not require the acuity of care delivered by the paramedic physician partnership associated with the air ambulance, but deserve to received gold standard health care what ever their presenting condition." Carter started his working life at the age of 16 as a carpenter in his home town of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. Following threats of redundancy, he decided to change career to one that gave him more challenges, but plenty of job satisfaction. After applying to several ambulance services to become a paramedic, Carter ended up in Kent and he made a promise to himself to eventually spend time working for the air ambulance service. The promise was made after he caught a glimpse of the Kent helicopter landing at one of the regions hospitals - seven and a half years later he had achieved his aim: "It really was like picking up my Olympic Gold medal, it took me over seven years, but when I walked into Marden and collected my red flight suit, I felt like I'd made a massive life achievement." Like all paramedics before him, Carter was placed on a secondment for two years, but his time at the charity was extended a couple of times: "I was only meant to be at the trust for a couple of years, which is the normal secondment for a land ambulance paramedic - if you make the grade, I was really pleased to have got through, it's tough. I was fortunate enough to be involved at a time when the charity pioneered the introduction of doctors on board the helicopter, so my experience was useful to the charity - I managed to stay longer. I also had my time extended further when I signed up to the Critical Care Paramedic Scheme, which gave me a whole new insight into pre-hospital care and meant I was able to boast "I've been to university." Carter is very modest about his status as the charity's second longest serving paramedic, behind his very good friend and colleague, Gary Balderston: "It's a nice roll call, but to be honest the charity must always come first. It's a vital service and I'm really proud to have been able to have some kind of influence here. I really wanted the doctor/paramedic team set up to work and it did, as it's now being rolled out across the UK. Having doctors work with the paramedics has had a massive impact on patient care - I'm very proud to have played my part." As Carter heads back to the land ambulance, he admits he will certainly miss his office that flies - the charity's two MD902 Explorer helicopters: "It did take a while to get used to flying, the first month was adrenaline overload, but now I view the helicopters as my offices. They're both superb, effectively they're machines, but then again they're like part of the family. I'm very fond and proud of them, they're the symbol of the charity and to me they both represent the gold standard of patient care." Although Carter will now be keeping his feet firmly on the ground, he will always have a place in his heart for the charity, the staff who work there and the two helicopters: "The charity is like a big family and there are people here are like my brothers, my clinical manager, Rob Wilkinson, is like my dad - a real father figure. It makes me proud, there's a great work ethic - people are passionate about excellent patient care, it's very absorbing." Carter is now embarking on a new leg of his medical career journey. However having been part of the charity has had a real impact on his life in many ways: "Every patient that comes back to say 'hello'; give you a real sense of pride. I can be getting fuel for the car and I'll still be wearing my air ambulance t-shirt after work and someone will say "you work there? - wow!" So sometimes you do attract attention whilst carrying out you normal daily life, which is not something that's always been very comfortable for me. However there's also the other side, which for me is why I wanted to be involved and that is the patients the team have been able to make a difference to. Those patients who have extensive life threatening conditions when you get to the accident, and you, along side your colleagues, can turn them around on the scene. To surgically intervene with doctors and drugs is the most amazing thing. Working for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance has been the best job in the world, I wish it would never end."