THE ROLE OF A PARAMEDIC NAME:
Activity 1
Watch Wendy's documentary about the ambulance service in Britain. Which of these questions does she
ask? Select four questions.
1. What sort of person makes a good paramedic?
2. Why did you decide to become a paramedic?
3. What sort of emergencies do you prepare for?
4. How long have you been a paramedic?
5. Is being a paramedic the toughest job in the world?
6. What equipment have you got in the ambulance car?
7. What’s the most difficult thing about the job?
Activity 2
Watch the documentary again and complete the answers to the questions. There's one word in each gap.
1. Wendy: What sort of person makes a good paramedic? Emily: I think someone that can _________________
well, who works well in a _________________ has leadership _________________.
2. Wendy: What sort of emergencies do you prepare for? Emily: Well, we could go to a huge range of
emergencies … asthma, chest _________________ people who’ve had _________________, ______________
like in road traffic collisions.
3. Wendy: Being a paramedic – is it the toughest job in the world? Carl: It can be very _________________.
We’re answering 999 calls, upwards of eight to twelve a day, so that can be particularly _________________
very _________________.
4. Wendy: This is kind of a compact version of what you might expect an ambulance to be, so what have you
got in it? Carl: This is, I would say, the _______________ thing that we carry. This is a _________________
start machine
Activity 3
Use the correct verbs and nouns to complete the introduction to the documentary.
day / pass / make / accident / give / care / health / provides / lives / saving / receives /
difference / calls / reported / exams / spending / feedback
Here in the UK people like this are _________ ___________ every hour of every day. The Ambulance Service
___________ thousands of emergency _________. It is part of the National Health Service, which _________
free _______ __________, paid for out of taxation. When someone's _________ a serious ___________ or
emergency, ambulance crews get there as fast as they can. Their speed and medical education _________ the
___________ between life and death. I'm ___________ a _______ with paramedics in Brighton, on the south
coast of England. These student medics are training at the University of Brighton. Most study for three years to
_________ the required ___________. Their tutors watch and _________ ____________ from a control room.
Activity 4.
Circle the best word to complete these sentences.
1. The National Health Service is paid for by taxes / patients / charities.
2. Ambulance crews save lives thanks to their skills and equipment / their speed and training / their strategic
position in the city.
3. To be a paramedic, you have to study for two years / three years / five years.
4. The trainee paramedics practise on patients with less serious problems / in real-life emergency situations / in
pretend emergency situations.
5. Emily’s examples of medical emergencies are burns, broken bones, or accidents at home or work / serious
illnesses, head injuries or allergies / breathing or heart problems, or car-crash injuries.
6. After passing their exams, the paramedics can start the practical training / observe real-life emergencies /
work in an ambulance.
7. Carl says the most difficult jobs are cardiac arrests / trauma cases / those involving children.
8. Carl’s ‘heart start machine’ is good because it’s very portable / the very latest technology / is not used very
often, luckily.
Activity 5.
Match the words with the definitions (A-H).
shoulder / chest / neck / hand / arm / hand / wrist / torso / ankle / calf / hip / thigh / groin / shin
A the narrow part of the body between the head and the torso _______________
B the highest part of a person’s body, above the neck _______________
C the main mass of a person’s body, including the chest, back, and abdomen _______________
D the part of the body where the heart and lungs are located _______________
E the joint where the arm meets the body _______________
F a joint between an arm and a hand, which allows the hand to twist and bend _______________
G a part of the body at the end of an arm that a person uses to hold and control objects _______________
H a long, narrow part of the body that extends from the side of the torso _______________
I the hard, bony part of the lower leg _______________
J a joint between the torso and a leg _______________
K the part of a the body where the inner legs connect to the torso _______________
L a joint between the leg and the foot _______________
M the soft, fleshy part of the lower leg _______________
N the upper part of a leg, below the torso _______________