Advanced Practitioner in Critical Care, Vicki Brown, Breaks Barriers

We’re proud to announce that Vicki Brown, Advanced Practitioner in Critical Care, is the first person in the country to get on the Faculty of Pre Hospital Care (FPHC) Register of Consultant (Level 8) Practitioners by qualifying from a purely paramedic background.

This is an amazing achievement for Vicki and is a wonderful recognition of years of hard work and expertise.

Vicki joins Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC) Drs Matt Campbell and Matt Thomas on the very short list of people qualified. Other doctors, who completed their training with GWAAC, are also on the register.

Since the first registration in 2015, to Vicki's registration, there were only 70 individuals on the list. Just 20% of these are female, which makes Vicki’s achievement even more unique.

What does this mean for Vicki and GWAAC?

Making it on to the FPHC Register of Consultant (Level 8) Practitioners in Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine (PHEM) means Vicki has evidenced that she is an appropriately experienced and qualified practitioner.

This is a big achievement for the paramedic profession and is great for GWAAC. Our crew’s capabilities and combined experience as a team are constantly growing and evolving, meaning we can deliver the best possible care to our patients.

Vicki’s ambitions and desire to be the best she can be in her profession, is helping GWAAC meet two of our strategic objectives:

• Great Western Air Ambulance Charity will Act Locally to provide an excellent and innovative Pre-Hospital Emergency Care service that supplements and supports NHS services
• Great Western Air Ambulance Charity will Impact Nationally and Influence Globally by improving Pre-Hospital Emergency Care for the benefit of all patients, identifying effective interventions, promoting good practice, and developing innovative new approaches

On a local level, Vicki is delivering first-class pre-hospital care to patients wherever they are and whenever they need it. And on a national level, her ground-breaking achievement of being the first to qualify with a purely paramedic background, and being the first female paramedic on the register, means she will be an inspiration to other paramedics up and down the country.

Q&As with Vicki

Wowed by Vicki’s achievement, we caught up with the ambitious paramedic to see how she was feeling, and to see if it had sunk in. We asked Vicki:

Q: How does it feel to be the first person from a purely paramedic background in the country to achieve Consultant (Level 8) Practitioner in Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine?
A: I’m feeling very proud to have achieved this level and hope other paramedics will follow as pre-hospital medicine is very much multi-professional.

Q: What was involved in your journey to achieving this accreditation?
A: After achieving the Diploma in Immediate Care I spent a few years going through the process of providing evidence to the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care of my experience and knowledge. This culminated in submitting portfolios of clinical and operational experience, and attending an interview.

I found out I’d made it on the Register after an interview (on Friday 17th December 2021) with the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care, which is associated with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Q: What are your ambitions for the future?
A: I hope this shows that paramedics can achieve this level of practice. I intend to continue pushing the boundaries of paramedic practice and hope there is more success to come.

Congratulations Vicki! from all of us at GWAAC

Getting on the FPHC Register of Consultant (Level 8) Practitioners, after just 18 months of being appointed the first Advanced Practitioner in Critical Care (APCC) in the South West, is even more remarkable.

Vicki’s quest to keep on reaching new heights is why she’s an inspiration to all of us at GWAAC, as well as aspiring paramedics.

This achievement was nationally recognised when Vicki won the Breaking Barriers Award at the Air Ambulances UK Awards of Excellence in November 2022.

“I’m so pleased that Vicki’s outstanding commitment to patient care and professional development has been recognized once again. Her latest achievement of being the first paramedic on the Faculty of Pre Hospital Care (FPHC) Register of Consultant (Level 8) Practitioners by qualifying from a purely, paramedic background, is wonderful news and well deserved. Keep breaking those barriers Vicki!”
- Anna Perry, CEO, Great Western Air Ambulance Charity.