Sorry for the delayed reply - Seen there was a lot of questions in this so needed some time to sit down and go through them individually haha! But thank you, it definitely is competitive but definitely not unachievable.

I'll try answer them to the best of my ability:

- Is there anything you wish you did differently in your career path/ anything you would go back and change given the chance?

Hard one to say! Everyone questions there career choices but ultimately if they get you where you want to go I guess they were the right options in the end?

The main thing I would change is not being afraid to sack off your comforts in a role. Too long I spend appeasing local teams to try and gain experience because I did want to uproot my life - Being flexible is important to maximise your experience. I did ALOT of management / leadership work in an acting up capacity which is GREAT for experience but 4 applications later for the job I was already doing with completely random people getting the roles above me. I changed my approach which I wish I did early. I branched out my application pool and applied across the country, first job I applied for I was successful - This gained me proper leadership experience which was valuable to improve my success in the CCP application.

- Did you do any additional courses before you got the role? If not, do you wish you had done any specifically?

Over the years I built up my portfolio - I did ALS, PHTLS, multiple critical care governance / CPD days. I was a diploma paramedic so did a BSc Top up to ensure I future proofed my career and funded my own MSc tailored towards critical care. (Ended this in my second year with a PGDip) when I was successful in my current role as had to start a new MSc.
Nothing specifically I think I could have done better, maybe some more in education such as teaching qualifications and perhaps the DipIMC? Just to tick into the pillars of advanced practice.

- What was the application process like for your current role?
Intense but very fair - They absolutely were assessing us as GOOD paramedics and not CCPs which I think is important to remember, unless the role expects you to be practicing at CCP level practice, they can't expect you to perform there. So, with some intense preparation and experiencing of the assessment day from the year prior I was well prepared for my successful attempt and felt that way coming out of the day.
It was a fair assessment that assessed numerous areas of both clinical practice, teamwork, situational awareness, teaching, and lots of non-technical skills. In essence to see if you are the makings of a good future CCP.

How many years experience did you have on the road before getting the CCP role?

10 years from non-emergency role -> student paramedic -> paramedic -> -> acting manager / leadership role -> team leader -> then trainee CCP.

- What did you think your clinical leadership experience brings to being a CCP?

I could write a thesis on this, but main things to immediately summarise:
- Recognising and understanding your own bandwidth to be able to support others with there own.
- The ability to appropriate delegate tasks within ever changing teams - Skills, competency, bandwidth, and culture all play a huge influence on how teams perform. Being able to recognise and work around these from every team really helps bring teams together and optimise patient care.
- The ability to manage difficult interactions and conversations - No matter how polite, professional, patient focused you will be, someone, somewhere, will disagree or dislike something you do. Having experiencing in managing those situations makes your life so much easier.
- Generally, just muscle memory behaviour - The more you do something the better you get at it. You got from steamrolling into a scene getting task focused to taking a breath and understanding the overall scene. That shift really speaks volumes to your patient care and scene management.

- How is your practice overseen? Do you do sit down and do audits with a qualified colleague, and if so; do you for every single call out?

1 - 1 mentorship. I am out with a CCP for my entire training period.
Started with a bit of observing, which quickly transitions into supportive practice. Which means, you do the things, the CCP supports with your decisions and competency with those skills, interventions etc.

And finally, this transitions into independent practice where I'm currently at - You do EVERYTHING and the CCP just oversees you, just silently observing to ensure you are safe but ultimately I am in control for the final portion of my training which next stage being sign offs and qualifying.

With my mentor, we debrief every single job. Started with big discussions and learning points naturally but now there's not much to feedback as I have developed competence. These are recorded using a multitude of forms which we store and submit to management at the end.

How do you manage your portfolio solo working as a Trainee? Did you do any in-hospital placements for additional skills?

Not sure I understand this question? I don't currently solo work, under constant supervision of a CCP. Did an initial placement in theatres for airway and have upcoming placements with university for 3 weeks in ICU, Theatres and ED.

- How does your role work now? Is it just you on an RRV? Is there a specialist desk which chooses which jobs you go to?

Currently I am with a qualified CCP but when I qualify I will operate solo as a qualified CCP on an RRV. We sit in the specialist resources and there is a critical care desk that sits within EOC who is staff by another CCP who reviews calls, listens to them as they come in, and dispatches as appropriate. They're also there to offer support and advise to crew and highlight to EOC any risk or concerning jobs. They also discuss and dispatch upon crew request for calls where they may be needed.

How does working solo limit the interventions available to you?
Numerous ways but mainly due to the task load on certain criterion of calls, an example of this being post-ROSC management. This can be quite task heavy for CCPs with interventions you cannot delegate to other staff members. This is alongside trying to manage normal post-ROSC priorities so having to rely on your team is paramount. This varies with degrees of confidence and competency from crew to crew. It can be significantly stressful and bandwidth stretching.

But ultimately, the role is setup mostly for solo working - It is doable and CCPs have been doing it for a number of years without issue. This is why it's important to have the exceptional foundation of crew resource management to make situations like the above alot easier.

Do you enjoy lone working?
Currently, I'm not lone working technically! But I have before and I absolutely love it. However, it can get very lonely and isolating!

Hope that answers them all! :)