Associate Ambulance Practitioner

On an associate ambulance practitioner apprenticeship course, you’ll help respond to 999 and urgent calls and provide emergency care for people as part of an ambulance crew.

Your duties as an associate ambulance practitioner will include responding to emergency (999) and urgent calls as part of an ambulance crew and providing emergency and urgent assistance.

You will assess, treat, and manage people needing help on the scene before either referring them for further treatment or safely releasing them.

Other duties include tight collaboration with other emergency services and the NHS. You’ll work at a higher level than a healthcare support worker, acquiring a knowledge of basic concepts and associated principles in your area of study and the ability to analyse and grasp them.

You will work under the supervision of a licenced practitioner for the first 20 weeks. After completing the course, you will be accountable for your behaviour when working within your scope of practice.

What you’ll learn

On an associate ambulance practitioner apprenticeship course, you’ll learn to:

• Take a systematic and thorough approach to patient assessment, doing a range of physiological measurements using appropriate equipment safely and efficiently.
• Make necessary adjustments or recommendations to the treatment plan within their practice, showing changes where relevant and needed.
• Manage service users and others of all ages in the emergency and urgent care setting, including airway, respiratory, and circulatory management; wounds and bleeding; burns and scalds; medical conditions; bones-joints-ligaments-tendons injuries; use of medical gases; pregnancy & childbirth; hostile & major incidents; hazardous to health substances; and pain management.
• Perform intermediate life support for individuals of all ages safely and effectively, using appropriate equipment and techniques. Assist the practitioner with cannulation, fluid treatment, and intubation skills, as well as preparing life-saving drugs by using the skills needed to offer proper medicines management criteria.

Entry requirements

You’ll usually need:

•  Disclosure and Barring Service check, fitness test, 18 years or over, and a full driving licence.
• Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this before taking the end-point assessment.

Assessment methods

The End Point Assessment comprises five distinct assessment methods: 

• Interview (Professional Discussion) using Portfolio Submission
• Objective Structured Clinical Examination
• Objective Structured Clinical Examination
• Situational Judgement Assessment
• Pictorial Examination

Restrictions and requirements

You’ll need to:

• pass enhanced background checks
• pass a medical check
• have a full driving licence

Duration, level, subjects and potential salary upon completion

Apprenticeship standard

More information about the Level 4 Associate Ambulance Practitioner Apprenticeship standard can be found here.

Apprenticeship end point assessment

For more information about the End Point Assessment Process, please read the Institute of Apprenticeships’ information page.