Skip to content

Advanced Paramedic Practitioners

Our Advanced Paramedic Practitioners (APPs) undergo additional education, have further skills and carry additional medicines to help us give patients the best care for their needs.

Advanced paramedic operating some equipment in rear of ambulance car

We have two types of APP – Advanced Paramedics in Critical Care and Advanced Paramedics in Urgent Care.

Advanced Paramedics in Critical Care

Our Advanced Paramedic Practitioners in Critical Care (APP-CC) treat the most seriously ill and injured patients – including patients in cardiac arrest and with serious traumatic injuries.

They also attend complex maternity calls, or challenging cases where enhanced decision making is required.

They have additional post-graduate education and carry extra medicines and equipment.

The team are based out of Westminster, Croydon, Brent and Ilford Ambulance stations.

The APP-CC function allows for 24 hour a day cover and there will usually be around three to five APP-CCs on shift to respond across the entirety of the Service’s geographical area.

There will also be one APP-CC in our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).

An advanced paramedic in a control room with a headset looking at multiple screens

The APP-CC in the EOC will monitor 999 calls to see where the skills of their fellow advanced paramedics could be required and will dispatch the APP-CCs who are in response cars to patients.

They can also speak to callers to provide clinical advice and to learn more about the patient’s condition to make a judgement on whether an APP-CC should be dispatched.

Advanced Paramedics in Urgent Care

Our Advanced Paramedic Practitioners in Urgent Care (APP-UC) respond to a variety of different calls for patients with a variety of illnesses and injuries.

They have an advanced level of clinical practice in terms of assessment, clinical decision making and diagnosis and have completed, or are working towards, a Master’s Degree in Advanced Practice.

Their extra post-graduate education, skills and the medicines they carry mean they are able to treat more patients in their own homes, rather than in hospital where a trip to the emergency department can be avoided.

Our Advanced Paramedics in Urgent Care respond across the capital each day.

There are usually five APP-UC working in our response cars, as well as one in our Emergency Operations Centre (EOC).

Here, the APP-UC will monitor 999 calls to see where the skills of their fellow advanced paramedics could be required and will dispatch the APP-UCs who are in response cars to patients.

They can also speak to callers to provide clinical advice and to learn more about the patient’s condition to make a judgement on whether an APP-UC should be dispatched.

On scene, our APP-UCs conduct a thorough assessment of the patient’s condition and recommend the right treatment and diagnosis.A paramedic with a mask and apron comforting a patient

They aim to treat and keep the patient home or within their community as much as possible.

As well as this, they work closely with other healthcare providers in the capital, rotating across different clinical settings outside of the ambulance service, such as General Practice, Urgent Care Centres and Minor injury units.

This means that the APP-UC is able to apply what they learn in one area to another, benefiting all the patients they see.

WATCH: find out more about the control room aspect of the Advanced Paramedic role

youtu.be has been blocked due to your cookie preferences, you can change those by clicking on the cookie button on any page.
youtu.be has been blocked due to your cookie preferences, you can change those by clicking on the cookie button on any page.
Cookie Settings