Command performances: paramedic team leadership

Make no mistake…as a paramedic you are expected to display and possess the attributes of leadership. First of all, practice approaching the patient with confidence, yet maintaining absolute compassion and humility. Acting with confidence is not the same as being ‘cocky’ and ignoring the input of your team.

You are a leader and therefore the patient and the members of your team will be looking to you for guidance and inspiration. Apply your team by engaging them. Make eye contact with the patient and assure him/her that they are in good hands. Try not to use frustrating statements like ‘sir would you please just relax’. Instead, ask him/her to count their breaths, or assign someone to engage the patient in conversation and hold his/her hand if possible. If you are sedating them, ask them about details of their hometown, or what they would cook for dinner. Smell is the sense most associated with emotion with neural proximity to the hippocampus and limbic system. So, if this is engaged, anxiety can be reduced. They will continue to benefit from your expert verbal interventions because hearing is the last neural pathway to be lost with anesthetic induction.