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Guest blog - Krissie Stiles

At Red Square Medical, we love a bit of social media, especially LinkedIn, and we literally fell in love with this month’s guest blogger, Krissie Stiles, for the power of her LinkedIn posts. Krissie’s personality and passion for her work just fly off the screen and grab the attention. So we’re delighted to introduce the amazing Krissie to our followers and let you all enjoy and learn from a very special guest blogger!

Hi everyone, I’m Krissie and I’ve spent the last few years working as the Plastic Surgery Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), caring for patients with soft tissue and orthopaedic trauma.


I’m 44 and have lived in the UK since I was 15 years old. I was actually born in Riga, Latvia and am a child of the Soviet era.


I started my career studying adult nursing at the University of Brighton where a burn specialist nurse’s lecture in the 2nd year drew my attention to the burns speciality. I was fascinated by the impact of burns trauma on a human body and the incredible reconstructive techniques available to recover soft tissue. The dressing techniques required to care for these injuries, and the amazing burns multidisciplinary team that supports burn survivors for the rest of their lives. 


I knew straight away that I wanted to be part of this world. I requested a burns unit as my Elective and Management placements towards the end of my training, and once qualified in 2003, I was invited to stay on as burns unit staff nurse at the world-renowned Queen Victoria Hospital – the home of the Guinea Pig Club and the RAF pilots who received pioneering reconstructive surgery at the hands of Sir Archibald McIndoe in WW2. 

The set up on the burns unit was such that a staff nurse could rotate and work across all of the aspects of burns unit care – from the burns ward, operating theatre, burns outreach, critical care and outpatients, which were all integrated in a single burns unit. With a desire to progress, I passed the British Burn Association’s Emergency Management of Severe Burns course and achieved a Diploma in Professional Clinical Practice: Burns, Plastic and Maxillofacial Reconstruction Pathway.


Later, as my clinical work shifted towards the burns ICU, I completed BSc in Acute Clinical Practice and in 2019 I graduated with an MSc in Burn Care from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). My dissertation followed my interest and passion in out of hospital care, titled ‘Preventing hypothermia: defining standards for the UK pre-hospital burn care and transfer’. I passed with a Distinction and was invited back to the QMUK PGCert/MSc Burn Care programme as an Honorary Lecturer.


It might sound strange, but burn blister deroofing is my favourite procedure. It’s exactly what it says and is what we do to remove the blister so that we can fully assess the wound and promote healing. I know it may seem gruesome, but I love doing it – there is something really satisfying about having a pristine and clean wound bed.

In 2011, I was offered the post of the Burn Care Advisor – an innovative post across the London and South East of England Burn Network (LSEBN), which devoted a burn specialist nurse to work outside of the burns unit. The aim was to improve pre-burn centre care of burn survivors and supporting education of the pre-hospital and ED clinicians who cared for our patients first. 


This was a fantastic opportunity to build relationships with our referring clinicians and  improve understanding of each other’s resources, challenges and limitations in the emergency care of burn injured casualties. I worked closely with Fire and Rescue Services (FRS), road and air Ambulance Services, Emergency Departments and GP practices across three counties, which formed the catchment area for referrals into our specialist hospital. It was the most eye opening and most productive and fun role I have ever done! I learned to teach my subject in a way that is relatable and practical for those with resources way more limited than mine.


I took part in prehospital clinical governance days where burns scenarios were played out in real time. This made me realise the importance of key interventions delivered well, and the  importance of practical guidance tailored to the capacity and resources of the first responders. I designed and delivered Burns Management Study Days for clinicians outside of the burn speciality who wanted to improve their understanding and skills in burn care – whether in pre-hospital, trauma or community settings. I also got to ride on a big red truck, fly in an air ambulance on an observer shift and organised an iconic photo shoot for the National Burns Awareness Day with FRS, road and air Ambulance Service, and our burns unit team. I could go on… the highlights are just too many to mention!


Soon after, I also added the LSEBN Lead Nurse title to my name – a post that enabled me to lead on development of regional burns referral and initial management clinical practice guidelines (CPG), which are used to this day. A while later I joined the British Burn Association (BBA) as a nurse member of the Executive Committee, which saw me pioneer the first ever BBA Pre-Hospital Special Interest Group and progressed the previously developed regional CPG’s to be accepted at a national level. 


In 2017, I took on a Trauma Outreach CNS post, which took me into patients’ homes and into tertiary hospitals to help non-specialist clinicians assess and treat soft tissue trauma. 

After a year in the role, I was given an opportunity of a lifetime when I was invited to join The Katie Piper Foundation as the Head of Clinical Services. This role tasked me with setting up the first ever UK-based residential rehabilitation centre for burn survivors and allowed me a privileged insight into the long-term impact of burns. It reaffirmed to me the life changing effects of early interventions on burn survivors’ long-term quality of life and the role I have in advocating and sharing this knowledge to the healthcare professionals who hold an incredible power in their first responder hands. 


I wanted an opportunity to work at a Major Trauma Centre and when one came up within the plastics trauma field – I couldn’t turn it down. I was keen to continue to develop my role as an autonomous practitioner, but I didn’t want to lose my place as a bedside nurse. The CNS role is a perfect combination of autonomy and clinical expertise, an opportunity to see trauma patients from admission to healing. 


I started my current post in January 2020, returning myself to patients' bedsides at one of London’s Major Trauma Centres, just before the COVID pandemic stopped the world. After a redeployment to COVID ICU within months’ of starting in my new role, I eventually re-commenced my clinical practice of caring for survivors of trauma. 


My patients are survivors of trauma. Their injuries may be due to a fall, road traffic collision, assault, suicide attempt, or an animal bite, resulting in full thickness soft tissue loss. 


On a typical day, I would  join the plastic surgery team, visiting patients who are either awaiting or have already undergone reconstructive surgery across the hospital’s wards. Each visit is different – sometimes the purpose is wound assessment or a dressing change, sometimes it is a preliminary chat to explain what surgery may be required and how it will be carried out, sometimes it is to offer aftercare advice and education to the patients about to go home. I also frequently saw returning patients in the outpatients’ clinic for wound reviews. 


Teaching is a large part of the role – training and supporting the recovery, ward and clinic nurses, who are tasked with caring for patients who have undergone reconstructive surgery. I also educated adult and paediatric ED teams on initial care of burn injured patients. You’d also maybe see me sneak in to support the Emergency Department Resus team with care of the major burns admissions - in the initial assessment, management and onward referral to the specialist burn service. 

I was a lone CNS working with 4 Plastic Surgery Consultants and it wasn’t until I became an autonomous practitioner that I realised what a blessing it is to have a large team around you – someone to check in with you, someone to notice when you’re flagging and in need of a cuppa, someone who can celebrate the days’ successes with you and someone who ‘gets it’ when it comes to the type of traumatising and yet rewarding work we do. On the other hand, being with patients was my favourite part of the job. 

I love getting to know the humans behind the injuries, the bandages and the trauma. Our patients tend to stay with us for a while, making this possible. And the nice thing is that when they return to the clinic for follow-up and continue to come back for many weeks or months, it feels more like a family reunion rather than a job. There’s nothing more satisfying than achieving healing for patients and knowing they can now get on with the rest of their lives. 


My second best part of the job  is teaching. I have students who, years later, tell me how memorable and impactful my training sessions were. I have had applause, had the audience in tears, had clinicians queuing up after my talk either wanting to tell me of their own personal experience with a burn injury or one they’ve been challenged by in their clinical practice. No one forgets their encounter with burns quickly – they are rare, but when they do happen, they stick with you. (The Red Square Medical team can vouch for this fact too!)


Luckily in my role, emergencies are rare as we tend to enter the process once the patient is in hospital. But one of the main surgeries our plastic surgery team performs to salvage limbs with massive soft tissue trauma, is microvascular free tissue transfer – a flap, for short. Flap is dependent on adequate arterial and venous blood flow and a lot of post operative nursing care is to monitor for any signs of tissue compromise. Any sign of deterioration will require an urgent return to the operating theatre to save the flap, and more importantly, the patient's limb. In this case, nursing observations are essential to the timely identification of any concerns. 


When it comes to patients with burns, compartment syndrome is probably the most time critical for limb or digit salvage. When the burns are deep and circumferential, these can impair chest expansion and breathing or compromise viability of a limb or a digit, unless emergency decompression (called escharotomy) is performed. The bedside clinician needs to be attuned to the risks of deep and circumferential burns and monitor for signs of patient deterioration and neurovascular complications. The escharotomy procedure is usually performed in an operating theatre. It is very bloody and can appear almost barbaric, but it releases the constricting tight flesh, and re-establishes blood flow to the struggling tissues. 

Before I was known as ‘Krissie Plastics’, I was for a long time ‘Krissie Burns’ and I’ve already mentioned my journeys in burn care. My legacy (if I ever have one) would be to improve the sharing of specialist knowledge with those clinicians (such as Paramedics, and other pre-hospital medics) who work outside of the specialist services, and who often care for our patients first.


If we are to truly aspire to improve the quality of outcome for our patients, then we have to embrace the fact that those first responders on scene – the Fire and Rescue Service, Ambulance Service and Emergency Departments - are our extended burns team, with capacity to influence our patients’ long-term quality of life outcomes with their early interventions. In a maritime context, this also includes YOU!


It may seem strange that my work in burn care has actually taken me outside of the burns unit, but this is exactly where I feel we can reap some of the largest gains for our patients. 


My interactions and work with the Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Services have resulted in some immensely impactful and potentially life-altering practice changes. These were simple changes that followed the latest evidence and were capable of positively influencing the outcome trajectory of individuals affected by burns. 


Around this time, a Paramedic colleague of mine reflected on the changes that have been implemented with my support and jested: ‘Krissie said. We did’!. Since then, ‘Krissie said’ became a thing! So much so that I have since been described as ‘the Google of burns care’ and in fact my Twitter handle is quite idyllically @krissiesaid as a nod to my professional history in burns.


I am lucky to work in a fast-evolving speciality, where the surgical team are very hands-on with wound care, which allows me to access mentorship and supervision at the bedside. I attend burns, pre-hospital and wound care conferences, and follow the latest developments in practice through reading journal publications, attending webinars and listening to podcasts on the subjects that interest me and those useful to my clinical practice. The most recent training I attended was in sharp debridement – a fantastic tool to have as an autonomous wound care practitioner. 

It’s fascinating to take a look at the world in which Red Square Medical operates and my key advice for anyone going out to sea is… sunscreen! High factor, and I mean 50+ SPF, suncream generously applied. Radiation (sunburn) burns are unpleasant at best and incredibly debilitating at worst - so prevention is key. 


We all should have SPF in our daily skin care routine, as sun damage doesn’t only pose a risk of burns, it actually ages our skin quicker and can lead to skin cancer. As the recent Melanoma UK campaign says: ‘Be good to your skin – you’ll wear it every day for the rest of your life’. 


While burn prevention is the ideal, burn injuries are still relatively common at sea and can range from minor to the most severe burns. 

Severe burns can be life-threatening in themselves, but can also obscure other time-critical injuries, so their assessment must follow the ATLS trauma protocol. Patients will require an emergency evacuation to a land-based hospital for initial assessment and stabilisation, from where the patient will require onward transfer to a specialist burn centre. 

Minor burns are likely to be more common onboard and will require what we call a FACADE approach to initial care, especially if you’re looking to keep the patient onboard. 


FACADE stands for First Aid, Analgesia, Clean, Assess, Dress and Elevate. 


F - First Aid with cool running water for 20 minutes within 3 hours of the burn.

A - Analgesia - we need to proactively manage their pain.

C - Clean and deroof all blisters (see later note!).

A - Assess the depth and size of the burn.

D - Dress with clingfilm (for transfer) or non-adherent absorbent dressing (for local treatment).

E - Elevate limbs to reduce oedema.

My key pieces of advice for any crew and onboard medic would be:


  1. Ensure you have a ‘water strategy’. Have a Plan A,  for when you have 20 minutes worth of water (great – this is the gold standard!). But when you only have a limited water supply using alternating wet compresses over a 20 minute period is the next best thing. If you don’t have access to running water, consider sea water as an alternative cooling solution. Of course there is a risk of infection, but that can be dealt with later on, cooling is the immediate priority.

  2. However, always be mindful of hypothermia when cooling, as this can negatively affect your patient’s condition and long-term outcome. Cool the burn only but keep the rest of your patient wrapped up and warm, even if you’re in a warm or hot climate. If you notice any signs of hypothermia – stop the cooling and actively warm your patient.

  3. Have really good analgesia onboard if you are able. Burns hurt. Like – a lot! And if you are looking to treat your patients on board, and especially if you are attempting the ‘C’ element of FAÇADE – your patient will appreciate some decent pain relief before the procedure and at regular intervals afterwards, as their burn wounds are healing.

  4. If you are unable to deroof burn blisters due to confidence, skills set and/or resources – you will not be able to assess the severity and the extent of your patient’s burn wounds. This is an essential burn wound care step, which will not only allow accurate assessment, but will also reduce the risk of infection for your patient (by removing non-viable tissue). Depending on the situation, your Telemed Doctor may advise and guide you through this process.

  5. If a burn wound has been deroofed, it will be painful, leak a lot, and require frequent (often daily) dressing changes. Make sure you have wound care products that will not stick, will absorb wound exudate (the gooey, sticky stuff), prevent infection, and allow movement.

  6. Reducing oedema and maintaining movement are key to expediting burn wound healing. This is especially significant for upper limbs, which have a huge functional component to our quality of life. Elevation is a passive way of reducing the impact of oedema and can be helpful when patients are resting. Make sure your patients are instructed that movement is necessary while they are healing. If you wait until the wounds are fully healed, your patients will have incredibly stiff and immovable joints, and it will take weeks of therapy to regain function once again. Avoid this by getting your patient to move as soon as you’ve applied your first dressing! And ensure you bandage in a way that will not restrict movement.

  7. Always seek advice from a burn specialist for any burns that are deep or affect significant areas like face, hands, feet, and genitals, as these can have lifelong complications for your patients, however small and insignificant these may seem to your clinical eye. In the very least, advise patients to have follow up with a burn service once you dock. 


Facial burns are an interesting thing, and we rarely dress them. Instead we apply soft yellow paraffin (Vaseline) to reduce the discomfort of air against the open wound bed. Faces heal really well when kept clean and Vaseline’d. They also tend to look really bad as they heal – oozy, scabby, crusty, before they look absolutely awesome. The trick is in the regular washing with soap and water as tolerated, and lots and lots of Vaseline, especially on lips (they tend to be the sorest). And obviously, tell patients to stay away from naked flames and no smoking when wearing all that flammable grease on their skin! Oh, and make sure to tell them to sleep propped up on lots of pillows as this will really help with facial swelling and may prevent the momentary panic when waking in the morning and being unable to open severely swollen eyes!


Of course, some of the things I’ve seen and experienced over the years have been traumatic and I am an emotional person, so mental fitness is a fine balance for me. In the first instance, debriefing with my colleagues is instrumental – it is validation of my experience and my feelings by people who’ve been there too.


I also have a great support at home, and this is a safety blanket that I come home to, it nourishes me and restores me when I need it. I love to work out - I exercise to feel physical achievement through discomfort, to elevate my mood and attitude, and sometimes I exercise to exorcise. Fitness has been my best and my most consistent ‘therapy’ over decades.


Finally, I met my husband, David Wales, at an international burn conference where he was a single Firefighter amongst hundreds of burns professionals, presenting on his research of human behaviour in fires. I approached him as a keen, newly appointed Burn Care Advisor to discuss care on scene and to find out exactly why the Fire and Rescue Service don’t ever use the huge tank of water, they carry on their appliances, to deliver essential first aid to burn injured casualties!


This struck a chord with him and led to years of collaborative working, culminating in publication of an award-winning ‘Saving Lives is Not Enough’ report on the  importance of the role of FRS in burn survivors’ long-term outcomes. Ten years after meeting and working together, a firefighter and a burns nurse became husband and wife!


To find out more about Krissie’s incredible work and keep up to date with the latest in burns information, you can follow Krissie on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristina-stiles-msc

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Guest blog: Jordan Lin

by Rachel Smith • 08 May, 2024
At Red Square Medical, we’re keen to support those who have a passion for maritime medicine. While we can’t provide placements for everyone, occasionally a request pops up at just the right time and we can provide some experience and insight into our unique and specialised world. Last year we were contacted by Jordan Lin, a medical student with a love of the ocean. This is his story… When I was a boy, my dad and I used to go fishing with a local fisherman off the Norfolk coast. I absolutely loved being on the sea and so for quite a long time, I wanted to be a fisherman. When I got a bit older I kind of forgot about this and think I may have been slightly put off by watching the TV series ‘World’s Deadliest Catch’! But I have always loved being on the water and spent a lot of time sailing dinghies; I was also a swimming teacher for children back in high school and college. Later, I decided to study medicine and I’m now a final year medical student at the University of Bristol where I completed an intercalated degree; a Masters in Health Sciences Research. I’m now looking forward to starting work as a qualified Doctor in August. Though having spent 6 years training, my next 2 years will be spent working for the required two foundation training years that must be completed before being able to work independently as a Doctor in the UK. At university, I joined the VITA network which is a group dedicated to developing a health and public health approach at the heart of any response to human trafficking and exploitation. I became the blog coordinator for the organisation and you can read the blogs, including those that I have written, here: https://vita-network.com/blog/ In my spare time, I have been involved with the Bristol University Hot Air Ballooning Society and trained through the society to get my Balloon pilots licence. So, I often spend weekends during the summer flying in a leisurely fashion over Bristol and the surrounding area!

That Lightbulb Moment!

by Rachel Smith • 24 Apr, 2024
At Red Square Medical, we’re fascinated by the learning process - it’s key to our business after all. But we often wonder what happens when our students leave the classroom. Do they remember what they’ve learnt? What if they’re faced with a real emergency, will they know what to do? Is there a lightbulb moment when it all clicks into place? Skill fade is a very real issue, as we wrote about in this blog , and we know that setting up drills and practice scenarios when you’re back in your environment, with your kit and crew, can make a massive difference. It’s great to get some feedback from our students too. Last year, we received photos from the Southern Ocean from a solo round the world sailor who was able to successfully steri-strip a cut eyebrow closed. Or the Captain who recognised a heart attack in a crew member because they looked just like the guy he saw in the video on one of our courses.

Worse Things Happen at Sea… a salty tale of dysentery, haemorrhoids, accidents, depression and death!

by Rachel Smith • 03 Apr, 2024
You might wonder about the title of this month’s guest blog, as Worse Things Happen at Sea is also the name of our monthly newsletter. But this month, we’re delighted to introduce Andrew Edwards as our Guest Blogger, and we felt his amazing story about life at sea really deserved a dramatic headline… Dysentery... In the summer of 1966, I was a cadet on a cargo ship that loaded in the UK for 9 ports in West, South and East Africa. Our first port of call was Luanda, the capital of Angola – which was then a colony of Portugal. Next, 300 miles down the coast we called in to Lobito – also in Angola. In Lobito two of the ship's company contracted dysentery; myself and a big Irishman called Reg. The shoreside Doctor we saw simply diagnosed the condition (amoebic dysentery) and said, ‘sorry but I have no antibiotics for this!’. Thankfully the ship’s purser stood our corner and demanded that the Doctor find some. The following day the antibiotics were flown in from the Belgian Congo. The Doctor gave us no advice as to how to deal with the condition, not a word about how contagious it was, not a word as to the importance of thoroughly washing our hands and maintaining scrupulous personal hygiene. Thankfully both Reg and I were quartered just a short sprint from the heads, and we were left to get on with it by our shipmates. It took about a week to get over the dysentery, by which time I had lost several stone in weight and was as weak as a kitten. By the time we arrived in Walvis Bay, South West Africa (now known as Namibia), a further 1000 miles south, I was just about fit enough to play football for the ship against a local team. Their football ground had a main road going right through the middle of it which made for some challenging moments, but they still beat us comfortably and they were playing in bare feet!

How does the Easter Bunny avoid Diabetes?

by Rachel Smith • 20 Mar, 2024
As it’s Easter, we thought that it would be a very appropriate time, what with all that chocolate around, to take a closer look at the subject of Diabetes and why it’s such a huge problem in the UK and across the world. The Easter Bunny always looks so cute and cuddly, but is he a diabetes case waiting to happen? Or does his diet of grass and all that hopping around for the rest of the year make an important difference? According to the WHO, diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease which is characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar). Over time, this leads to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves. The most common is type 2 diabetes, and it usually develops with a late onset in adults. It occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't make enough insulin. Worryingly, in the past 3 decades the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has risen dramatically in countries of all income levels and is closely linked to obesity, poor diet, and an unhealthy lifestyle. Symptoms for type 2 diabetes are generally similar to those of type 1 diabetes (need to urinate often, thirst, constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue), but are often less marked. As a result, the disease may be diagnosed several years after onset, after complications have already arisen. For this reason, it is important to be aware of risk factors. Effective approaches are available to prevent type 2 diabetes and to prevent the complications and premature death that can result from all types of diabetes. These include policies and practices across whole populations and within specific settings (school, home, workplace) that contribute to good health for everyone, regardless of whether they have diabetes, such as exercising regularly, eating healthily, avoiding smoking, and controlling blood pressure and lipids. Type 1 diabetes, once known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin by itself. Normal onset is in younger people, but can also be in adults. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes include the need to urinate often, thirst, constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes and fatigue. These symptoms may occur suddenly. Type 1 diabetes cannot currently be prevented. It’s thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction which destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. It can also be caused by genetics, viruses, trauma, tumours, removal of the pancreas or other damage to the pancreas. About 422 million people worldwide have diabetes, the majority living in low-and middle-income countries, and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year. But the number of cases and the prevalence of diabetes have been steadily increasing over the past few decades. The starting point for living well with type one or type 2 diabetes is an early diagnosis – the longer a person lives with undiagnosed and untreated diabetes, the worse their health outcomes are likely to be. Easy access to basic diagnostics, such as blood glucose testing, should therefore be available in primary health care settings. Patients will need periodic specialist assessment or treatment for complications. A series of cost-effective interventions can improve patient outcomes, regardless of what type of diabetes they may have. These interventions include blood glucose control through a combination of diet, physical activity and, if necessary, medication; control of blood pressure and lipids to reduce cardiovascular risk and other complications; and regular screening for damage to the eyes, kidneys and feet to facilitate early treatment.

Reflective Practice and why it’s so important

by Rachel Smith • 21 Feb, 2024
Well, we’ve made it to February! How are your goals for the year going so far? As you’ll know, we do love a bit of goal setting at Red Square Medical HQ. But, we also understand the importance of Reflective Practice too. Especially in relation to setting goals. Want to know more? Please read on…

Guest Blog - Sam Kelly MSA

by Rachel Smith • 07 Feb, 2024
Today we start the first in a series of blogs in conjunction with our friends at the Maritime Skills Academy, and kicking it all off is a Guest Blog from MSAs Head of Training, Sam Kelly. Sam is 37 and lives in southeast Kent, in the quaint seaside town of Deal with with his wife, two children and a ‘Golden Doodle’ called Pringle. He has lived in the area ever since his father, a serving Royal Marine at the Deal Depot, and mother decided this was the place to raise their family. And it is, quite frankly, an excellent place to live. Here is his story… I’m the Head of Training for the Maritime Skills Academy, based in our head office in Dover. I oversee a team of Maritime Safety Instructors who deliver all STCW training for seafarers. Outside the Dover base, we have MSA Gibraltar. This location is operated in partnership with the University of Gibraltar and delivers Basic Safety Training and most recently Operational Firefighting, We are actually in the process of building a state-of-the-art Fire Training Module on ‘the Rock’.

Dry January!

by Rachel Smith • 17 Jan, 2024
So Christmas seems like years ago, and we’re all well into the New Year now. Did you make any resolutions? Some love to, some don’t. At Red Square Medical HQ, we love a goal or two and think the turn of the years can be a good prompt to make some positive changes. But, it’s well known that New Year resolutions don’t last. Forbes magazine tells us that 21% don’t make their resolution stick for even a month. While 34% state that it lasted for between one and three months. Is that a failure though? Or could it be all it takes to make some small changes that have a lasting impact? We thought it would be good to take a closer look at one of the most popular resolutions… Dry January! Now, let’s get one thing straight, the Red Square Medical team are not averse to a tipple or two! But as medics, we’re very aware of the short and long term benefits of giving our livers a little breather every so often. Of course, everyone responds differently to stopping drinking for a month, so the timeline below is just a guide. But it might help you to decide whether it’s a good idea to give the booze a break for a while, or work towards reducing your intake - we know it’s easy for it to creep up over time!

12 months since I left the NHS

by Rachel Smith • 03 Jan, 2024
What I miss most about the Ambulance Service… It’s been 12 months since I left the Ambulance service after 8 years of working frontline, and to be honest it’s flown by. A few weeks ago the team at Red Square Medical HQ were chatting about how life has changed in that time and what, if anything, I was missing from my former life! The list might just surprise you… Most of all, I miss my old colleagues and I definitely miss the patient contact. And driving on blue lights… that was one of the best parts of the job! Working in the ambulance service with regular partners who you get on well with really does create friendships for life. Or even doing a tricky job with someone you don’t know well provides a common bond forever. Every day you’re facing stressful situations and sometimes split second, life changing decisions. You rely on each other totally and make sure you keep each other safe in some difficult and challenging situations. I worked with 3 very different partners most of the time for my last few years and I miss them all. Happily though, I have some great new colleagues at Red Square Medical and Outreach Rescue, the other company that I work for.

Guest Blog - Rachel Smith

by Rachel Smith • 03 Jan, 2024
I was born in a tiny village in Northamptonshire but had a fairly nomadic childhood, eventually settling in the industrial town of St Helens in the north west. As a child I was horse mad, so boats never got a look in. Apparently ‘horse’ was the first word I said and despite the fact that we could never afford a horse, my dream was always to ride and work with horses. It’s perhaps an early indication of my goal-oriented side that I got a Saturday job as soon as I could. At the age of 13, I’d cycle a 12 mile round trip, twice a day, just to go and ‘muck out’ at a local farm where they bred Welsh ponies and Arab horses! There wasn’t even any riding. Later, I found myself working for the family of a young girl who would go on to represent Great Britain in dressage at the Olympics. The work was physically hard and the standards high. No corners were cut and I learnt the skills I needed the old fashioned way. I got to travel all over the UK in the branded horsebox which was pretty exciting for a teenager. But I think I will always be grateful for the solid work ethic and sense of responsibility that this job instilled in me. I always planned to leave school at 16 and go to ride racehorses. But I got quite reasonable exam results and a new degree course was announced in Equine Science and Business which changed the plan. So, after taking the required year out, when I worked in an eventing yard in Yorkshire, I started the 3 year course. For the two work placements, I opted to go abroad, to Italy and the USA, which supercharged my desire to travel. I continued working in the equestrian world for a couple more years, but the poor pay and prospects, plus a dose of pneumonia pushed me onto a different path. I got a job in telemarketing for a bank, and after putting forward the idea of finance for horses, I found myself transferred to Marketing for 6 months. 16 years later, I was still there!

Are they wearing a beer jacket??

by Rachel Smith • 20 Dec, 2023
Christmas is coming and the season of parties is upon us. Of course this means that most of us will overindulge in large amounts of luscious food and, of course, a tipple or two. At Red Square Medical HQ, we have a method of categorising drunk people. During our combined careers, we’ve dealt with more drunks than we can remember; it’s easily running into several hundred. What we’ve learnt, amongst other things, is that most people who are drunk fall into one of these categories. Now please don’t judge as it is purely observation and also makes for an interesting chat when delivering the STCW Medical training, because we all know at least one person from each category and sometimes… a person can be in multiple categories depending on many other factors, or, we might even have been there ourselves! Once we have established these categories there is a serious note to this blog so please do keep reading.
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