Chamber and committees

The training period for an ambulancetechnician is nine weeks residential at the Scottish Ambulance College. Theprobationary period for a technician is one year following the training period.

Technicians must have a minimumof 18 months post technician experience before applying to become a paramedic. Theyattend six weeks residential training at the Scottish Ambulance College. Thisis followed by a minimum of four weeks clinical training in a teaching hospitalunder the supervision of medical staff where they must demonstrate competence andknowledge in various clinical skills and techniques. Once qualified, the paramedicsmust register with the Health Professions Council to which they are professionallyaccountable. The Scottish Ambulance Service takes a supporting role in their continuousprofessional development, with paramedic staff undertaking refresher training annually.

This information is not available.

This information is not available.

The priority based dispatch systemprovides for the dispatcher in the Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre to deploy arapid response unit to Category A calls and to back that up with the deploymentof an ambulance. It may be that the clinical condition later warrants that the ambulancebe stood down.

This information is not available.

Rapid response units are primarilyintended to be deployed to Category A calls, but will attend Category B calls occasionally.As a general rule, rapid response units will be staffed either by a single paramedicor a single technician. In some cases they may be double crewed.

As a general rule, rapid responseunits will be staffed by either a single paramedic or a single technician. In somecases they may be double crewed.

The Scottish Ambulance Servicedeploys the most appropriate resource to an emergency call, and in relation to CategoryA (life-threatening) calls, the policy provides for this to be a paramedic response,whether that paramedic is in a single-manned rapid response unit or is part of adouble crewed ambulance. There may however be exceptional circumstances when, owingto short notice sick absences or other situations, the choice is whether to deploya rapid response unit manned by a technician or to run with one less emergency resourcefor that particular shift.

The ambulance service has inrecent months introduced nearly 100 additional technicians in Glasgow and Lanarkshire.This influx of staff has skewed the ratio of technicians to paramedics meaning thatcurrently there are seven technicians out of a staff of 30 who may be deployed onrapid response units, while other technicians are being trained up to paramediclevel. The ambulance service plans to have full paramedic cover in place by December2007.

In 2003, the Scottish Executiveagreed to meet the £5 million capital costs to the Scottish Ambulance Service ofit implementing a defibrillator replacement programme, with the revenue consequencesbeing met by the ambulance service through its normal allocation. This programmecovered both the procurement of shock boxes and new defibrillators capable of beingfurther upgraded. In 2005-06, the ambulance service purchased 25 shock boxes withECG capabilities and 58 basic shock boxes (without ECG capability) at a cost ofapproximately £120,000.

The ambulance service has receivedconsiderable increases in revenue funding over recent years. Since 2002-03, itsallocation has increased by some 30% and currently stands at £167.8 million.

In 2001, the Scottish AmbulanceService was served with a health and safety improvement notice with regard to infectioncontrol standards across the ambulance service. I am informed that it has compliedwith this notice.

I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30913 on 25 January 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’swebsite, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.