Future paramedics jump into virtual driving seat in UK's first for ambulance trusts

The driving simulator, that is the first of its kind amongst ambulance trusts in the UK, is allowing students at West Midlands Ambulance Service to undertake their Emergency Blue Light Driving course to prepare for driving in a multitude of scenarios that could occur while driving an ambulance under emergency conditions.

The simulator will take up an hour of the two-week course for students, alongside an intensive on-the-road training for those undertaking the role.

In this time, future paramedics in the region will be able to use the technology to learn skills that cannot be staged in a real-life environment. For example, driving in extreme weather conditions, experiencing unexpected hazards or vehicle faults, and incidents where crews must use reverse-flow driving - where they must drive in the opposite direction down a closed motorway due to an incident on the carriageway.

Driving Instructor, Russell Ames, said: "We are very excited to offer our students such an incredible learning opportunity within their blue light driver training with the trust.

"These are scenarios that could happen while driving an ambulance, but we cannot stage them in a real-life setting. Yet there is a very high likelihood that our crews will be responding to patients in these extreme or unexpected conditions, and we want to ensure that they are given the chance to prepare for this so that they can respond to patients safely and continue to save lives.

"This simulator is built like an ambulance dashboard, with pedals and the seat will move and react to simulate the movement within a vehicle depending on the scenario.

"Our driver trainers are able to see how the students respond to these conditions while they are training and are able to advise and teach them about the correct way to handle each situation."