In this episode we examine End Of Life Care (EOLC) with Caroline Philips. Caroline's background is as a paramedic, working in London for 15 years. She has also worked in a hospice and also in a hospital for patients with motor neurone disease. Her experience in terms of clinical work and patient facing work is from both ends of the spectrum seeing patients who have sadly died unexpectedly or on a progressive path of illness.
In this episode we wanted to deconstruct EOLC to both demystify some of the concepts but also make it accessible from a paramedic's perspective. In the conversation we examine personal recollections from Caroline in dealing with this group of patients, the challenges from a relative/family perspective, what to expect/ patterns in EOLC, the team approach – involving specialists. We also examine how it looks and feels for a clinician, processing bad news and meta-programs, grief, loss eversion & oscillation of emotion. We finally look at incremental adjustment through loss and restoration, memories and bias of recollection (anchoring of memories) and then key lessons in EOLC.
I hope you enjoy this episode with a fantastic guest and co-host of mine for the pre-hospital care podcast.
