Ambulance care assistant (ACA) are in charge of non-emergency patient transportation. As part of an ambulance crew, an ACA will be responsible for caring for patients who need transport between healthcare facilities, to hospitals.
Responsibilities
Throughout your apprenticeship, you may help:
- lift and help patients in and out of the ambulance
- settle patients back at home after their appointments
- use a radio to keep in touch with the ambulance control room
- check and maintain the ambulance and its equipment
- keep accurate records of journeys.
Salary
- Apprentice ambulance care assistants start on £17,704 a year.
- After a 20-week training period move to Band 3, £21,709 to £23,603 a year.
Working hours
You will typically work 43 to 45 hours per week, working evenings, weekends and bank holidays on shifts.
Working environment
You could work on an ambulance.
Your working environment may be physically and emotionally demanding.
You may need to wear a uniform.
Qualifications
Qualifications you can achieve as an apprentice ambulance care assistant include:
- Level 3 Ambulance Support Worker – Entry requirements for this level include 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship. This qualification will take 13 months to complete.
Skills
On an ambulance care assistant apprenticeship, you’ll learn:
- sensitivity and understanding
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- customer service skills
- the ability to work well with others
- the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
- excellent verbal communication skills
- thinking and reasoning skills
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device.
Career path and progression
With experience, you could:
- become a team leader or supervisor
- become an emergency care assistant or apply to be a student paramedic
- move into personnel, training, health and safety or operations management