4.8 - Dave Murdoch and the life of a Paramedic - From Everest to Dorset

Something different again this episode - we chat to Dave Murdoch - an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner with over 28 years of experience. Dave has worked in a wide variety of prehospital settings; ambulances, cars, helicopters as well as Urgent Care Centres, Emergency Departments and General Practice surgeries, and almost 3 years of medical development work in a post-Soviet medical system. His work with UK International Fire & Rescue has seen him deployed to earthquakes and floods in Haiti, Japan, New Zealand and Nepal.

This chat covers Dave’s role with International Rescue and the need for improvisation in high pressure situations when resources are scarce. Find out why a carpenter helped with an operation and why one of his biggest challenges involved building a bridge. We also cover the role of a primary care paramedic, get bogged down in lots of acronyms as Gimmo tries to do some CPD about ACB.*

Our micro-discussion looks at ‘Safety-Netting’ - safety netting refers to the provision of information to help patients or carers identify the need to consult a healthcare professional if a health concern arises or changes. But is it just a tick-box exercise or a true part of shared decision making? We discuss the paper “Optimising GPs’ communication of advice to facilitate patients’ self-care and prompt follow-up when the diagnosis is uncertain: a realist review of ‘safety-netting’ in primary care” - https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/31/7/541.

As with all of our guests, Dave shares with us a Memory Evoking Drug, a career anthem and book that has influenced his career. You literally couldn’t live without his choices today.!

Jargon Monoxide - a podcast for all!
We try to keep our medical jargon to a minimum. Our aim is that this podcast is enjoyed by all who are interested in stories about medicines whether they are a healthcare professional or not.

*CPD = Continuing Professional Development - learning we have to do to stay registered!
ACB = Anticholinergic Burden - an additive side-effect of certain medicines that can lead to, amongst other things, an increased risk of falls

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You can view the Aural ApothecaryLibrary here; https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31270100-paul-gimson?ref=nav_mybooks&shelf=the-aural-apothecary

Dave Murdoch on Linkedin; https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-murdoch-a2b1a91a5/