Archetypal meanings of being a paramedic: A hermeneutic review

Heroism and paramedic practice: A constructivist metasynthesis of qualitative research

“…Tangherlini (2000) found that in such stories many paramedics choose to present themselves as anti-heroes, quick for a sardonic quip, and create narratives involving dark humor, casting the horrible into the world of the mundane, which they suggest also helps trivialize, and make less horrific, grisly scenes of suffering, and death. The anti-hero narrative was also found by Furness et al (2021) and influenced their "Paramedic as hero" archetype theme where Hero stories' were also viewed with derision by paramedics, and rather than self-glorification, they tell heroic anecdotes about their team. Paramedic stories can be deeply moving and personal, reflecting their inability to "do more" that constitutes the major crisis of the event and prompts the narrating, and in this context Tangherlini (2000) suggests that the story allows exploration of the possible range of actions or whether something could have been done differently to reach a positive patient outcome, and thereby eliminating that possibility; they therefore exert a narrative power over an event in which they felt powerless.…”

“…Ambulance work and its culture are also often depicted as heroic and masculine (Furness et al, 2021) despite marked workforce demographic changes in recent years. Furness et al (2021) suggest this is likely due to its military origins and association with other male-dominated emergency services such as Fire Services. Nurok and Henckes (2009) argue that professionals make decisions based on judgments about a patient's value, and that emergency work is shaped by a wide array of values that are not identically prioritized, but compete, which they articulated through their "fluctuating economy" framework.…”

Exploring the wellbeing of ambulance staff using the ‘public value’ perspective: opportunities and challenges for research

“…Attention should be given to identifying, measuring and managing issues around physical and mental health; pay, morale, absence and sickness rates; discrimination, bullying and harassment; and quality of service; as evidenced earlier in this paper. Moreover, persisting cultures stressing 'heroic' and 'stoical' values (see Furness et al, 2020;Nelson et al, 2020) may counter attempts to address these issues and this may well have been reinforced by the reaction to the pandemic.…”

“…These figures should be interpreted with caution regarding causality, but studies suggest a link between the physical demands of the ambulance job leading to musculoskeletal injuries (Stilwell & Stilwell, 1984) and the multiple dimensions of work intensity (Granter et al, 2019); with increased exposure to traumatic events, loss and grief leading to sleep disorders, obesity and PTSD cases in ambulance staff (Lawn et al, 2020;Nelson et al, 2020). The stoical devotion to duty in the face of psychological and physical risks of violence against staff further exacerbates the issue (Furness et al, 2020). Mental health issues have also been identified as one of the main causes of sickness absence by the CIPD annual survey (2019).…”

“…Ambulance work is often depicted in the media as 'heroic' and 'masculine', partly due to the paramedic's role in saving lives and dealing with dangerous situation (Reynolds, 2009;Tangherlini, 2000). However, many ambulance personnel see this as a misrepresentation (Furness et al ., 2020;Gilmour, 2011;Wankhade et al, 2020). Rhetoric about 'heroes' re-surfaced during the pandemic, which witnessed a sudden surge of support for frontline healthcare staff, including ambulance workers.…”