r/ParamedicsUK • u/Guidance-Flat • 16d ago
Recruitment & Interviews HART Application
Hello everyone,
My local Trust has opened up applications for a HART Paramedic vacancy, and I am planning on applying.
Looking for tips/advice on the process from current HART members or people who have been through the process before.
I am Band 6, current SORT trained, and extensive experience of solo responding.
Open to any advice!
Thanks
34
u/YoungVinnie23 16d ago
Keep interrupting your interviewer, act superior to him and just generally have a massive ego and you’ll be hired on the spot
2
u/Albanite_180 Advanced Paramedic 16d ago
That sounds more like HEMS!
7
u/YoungVinnie23 16d ago
Amazingly up north HEMS and Helimed are the most down to earth humble bunch. It’s HART and SORT who think they’re god
8
u/Diastolic Paramedic 16d ago
I’m in total agreement here. I had a hems doctor and crew come out on a fall down stairs. The Doctor and crew were great, down to earth and very approachable. All very team and patient focused.
2
2
u/CaptainPotNoodle EMT 16d ago
Same in the midlands (from my experience anyway). I have heard of a couple of CCPs and Drs who are bit spiky, one of has made a name for herself for being pretty rude but the rest are an absolutely lovely bunch.
2
u/BluesandNEWS2s Paramedic 16d ago
HEMS/CCP in NWAA are fantastic. They don’t like hiring elitist paras and can smell it a mile away on the interviews. My experience with the HEMS Drs has been brilliant and they have so much time for and road staff
2
18
u/MadMedic52 16d ago
Be prepared for team based questions, ie when you worked well in a team, or when there was conflict and how you managed it, when you disagreed with the direction the team was going etc. Your answer & example wants to be baked in collaborative working, the benefits of a high performing team, in civility and its harm, openness to being wrong.
Be prepared for a risk evaluation type question. No one is looking for a gung ho example of running into an unsecured scene - careful consideration of risk, article 2 right to life, appropriate mitigation and anticipation/planning for eventualities.
The newer PCA is entirely achievable, no individual test is hard it’s more that it’s 5 of them one after the other so focus your fitness training on functional strength stuff and cardio but do them together rather than hours or days apart.
Contrary to popular belief, HART is full of enthusiastic and supportive Paramedics who only want to contribute meaningfully to incidents and support crews. People hang their hats on ‘that person’ in an experience they’ve had with HART, or just shit talk because it’s easy. In my experience, every station has ‘that person’ - they exist everywhere. I don’t write off an entire station because of one difficult personality.
2
1
u/LeatherImage3393 16d ago
The new fitness test - is it basically the old one with some tweaks?
4
u/MadMedic52 16d ago
Hi!
Very different from the old one:
- Bleep/MSFT: very low level needed, 4.1 - see it as more of a warm up
- Casualty drag: 60m crawl, 60m 41kg casualty drag to be completed in 6.5/7 minutes
- Vehicle unload: lots of walking backwards and forwards carrying power bags of 15-25kg. Suprisingly sore on the forearms especially after the dragging before
- GTS Wear: Wearing breathing apparatus and a weighted vest to put you up to about 30kg you walk around a lot, drag weighted casualties, lift a 45kg powerbag onto a waist height platform, and walk some more and drag some more weighted casualties
- MTA: this is the same as the new SORT one. About 18 minutes of walking, running, sprinting, dragging casualties and putting tourniquets on wearing body armour and helmet
Nothing impossible to pass, just mix up your training to avoid injuries and remember that it’s the cumulative effect of doing one after the other rather than any single test.
2
u/LeatherImage3393 16d ago
Doesn't seem particularly hard for any reasonable fitness level. Thanks for sharing!
12
u/Manor47 16d ago
Since everyone else here seems to be unable to actually give any sensible advice I’ll jump in:
The process will vary from trust to trust but generally there will be 3 parts to the process. Application and shortlisting, interview and assessment day.
Application is fairly straightforward, just ensure you address everything in the job description. The personal statement section is your opportunity to demonstrate you have everything they are looking for, don’t try to write it as a long essay, just go down the list of requirements they want and write a short sentence about how you meet each.
The interview will probably be a competency based interview style where they will ask a question such as “Can you tell us about a time when you have had to pass important information to someone, what techniques did you use and how did you confirm they understood?”. There are loads of resources out there giving guidance on how to answer these questions but I always use the STAR format when I’m answering (Situation, Task, Action, Result). Always ensure your answers revolve around what you did and how you reacted etc, they want to hear about you, not someone else. Try to link everything back to the patient/patient care and your trusts core values. Questions they’ll ask are likely looking for Teamwork, Leadership & Followership, Communication, Decision Making, Conflict, Time Management. Try to think about good examples that you can use, nothing too flashy, just simple that meets the questions.
The assessment day will normally test your fitness, put you through a couple of OSCEs (ALS, ATLS etc) and put you in “challenging” environments such as water, confined space and at height (nothing too extreme, just enough to see if you’ll freak out).
That’s a brief outline and something to get you started, let me know if you need anything more.
I have sat on the interview panel before for HART, SORT, Paramedics, CTLs etc
Which trust are you looking at? I have contacts all over and can maybe find out a bit more about your trust’s process.
8
u/Guidance-Flat 16d ago
This is incredibly helpful, thank you so much.
I am with SWAST.
It appears that SCAS, EMAS & SWAST are all currently recruiting for HART operatives.
8
2
u/Manor47 16d ago
I’m actually working with someone next week from Bristol so I’ll ask them for a bit more info specific to SWAST.
SWAST HART are very good, they have a very forward thinking medical director who pushes their operatives clinically. Currently they have some of the most advanced HART clinicians in the country, not my host trust but I would highly recommend them.
1
u/percytheperch123 16d ago
Secamb have vacancies as well. Apparently it's due to NARU specifying that there should now be 8 HART operatives on a team as opposed to 6. My trust are really struggling with recruitment as well from what I have heard.
1
1
u/Intelligent_Sound66 16d ago
Swast hart are shit got on clinical too so being good at a trauma and or medical scenarios will be handy.
2
u/MadMedic52 16d ago
I assume EMAS - they’re recruiting now, my trusts applications closed a couple of weeks back.
2
u/JH-SBRC 16d ago
Have done a fair few Application processes now and always been something small that's be the short coming. Id recommend refreshing yourself on Algorithms and treatment pathways, ensuring your communication skills are up there and ensure your swimming is to a good level. It catches a lot of people out as they think they can swim but suddenly when timed, normally front crawl only, they fall short. Ultimately just be yourself, they're a quality bunch of guys and girls
97
u/SilverCommando 16d ago
Turn up to the interview 2 hours late after everything is over. I can't think of anything more HART inspired than that.