Weak legal regulation of paramedics is being blamed for a "horrifying" situation where criminals, including at least eight known convicted sex offenders, are free to work as paramedics. A confidential report seen by the Irish Independent confirms the Health Minister was informed of the issue in September 2025, but did not respond until a second "urgent" letter was delivered on December 10, 2025.
Some 1 million patients in the U.S. live with a type of heart disease called heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or HFpEF, caused by a stiffening of a chamber of the heart that makes it much more challenging to distribute blood throughout the body. The condition has few approved therapies and high mortality rates.
There was a collective fear that we're under attack — there are people on the streets of London trying to kill our fellow Londoners. On the day itself, Hettiaratchy was in charge and had to think practically and methodically: This is patient A, patient B, patient C; what are the injuries, what needs to happen, what needs to go on?
But if we're not prepared, panic and confusion can hinder our ability to act appropriately when they need us most. The best way to increase your chances of responding quickly and calmly is to familiarize yourself with basic pet first aid techniques. Though never a substitute for veterinary treatment, properly applied first aid can minimize a pet's trauma and even save their life until you are able to transport them to a veterinarian,
As you age, inactivity can lead to a variety of cardiovascular problems, one of which involves stiffening of the heart's left ventricle. That's the chamber responsible for pumping oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. According to Dr. Benjamin Levine , Director of the Institute and Professor of Internal Medicine at University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW), "When the muscle stiffens, you get high pressure and the heart chamber doesn't fill as well with blood."
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
If you are choking and are alone, try to get yourself into a high-traffic area, such as a hallway in a building or outside your house. If you pass out, you're way more likely to be found as opposed to being in a room in a building or your house. Call 911 even though you can't speak. Someone will be sent to your location by dispatch.
Across the country, emergency call centers are short-staffed, underfunded, and losing dispatchers faster than they can replace them. A 2023 survey found that one in four 911 positions nationwide is vacant, and 36% of centers reported having fewer positions filled in 2022 than in 2019. Martinez explains to Business Insider how dispatchers decide who gets help first for police, ambulance, and fire services, why they sometimes have to drop one call to save another, and the "caller hacks" that can literally save your life.
A community defibrillator fundraiser has begun to remember a "very friendly and therapeutic" cat named Defib which moved into an ambulance station in east London 18 years ago. Defib lived at Walthamstow Ambulance Station, after being rescued by paramedics as a kitten in 2008 and "adored by them ever since". In 2024, the cat was faced with eviction from his home but this was overturned after more than 62,000 people signed an online petition.
Rising demand for services has led an NHS trust serving Suffolk and Essex to declare a critical incident. East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust told the BBC it was facing "significant pressure", including hospitals in Ipswich and Colchester. Earlier this month, the NHS reported a rise in flu and other winter viruses after Christmas. The trust has encouraged people to seek help from pharmacists or use NHS 111 where appropriate.
He has been living with atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart rhythm problem, affecting 1.4m people in the UK, that can cause your heart to beat irregularly and often too fast. "It's very debilitating. On my worst day I feel very tired, my heart rate increases rapidly - I could walk for 2 or 3 miles and be okay, I could walk for 100 yards and it would hit me."
You get sick from staying inside, breathing the same germ-filled air. Open your windows, even for five minutes, to circulate the old air out and let in fresh air. Also, if you're taking your child to the doctor, don't wait to treat their fever because you want 'the provider to see the fever.' Your child might wait two hours to be seen, meanwhile their temperature goes up, and they might have a seizure. If you say they've been having fevers, we believe you.
Public health consultant Dr Ross Keat said supporting people earlier to make small preventative changes would make "a big difference later on". Some 3,500 people in the north of the island within that age bracket are eligible for the checks. The checks will be carried out by two pre-existing nurses that support GP staff and would not replace GP appointments, Keat explained, adding that the cost would be minimal and absorbed by Ramsey Group Practice.
"If you or someone you love is going to give birth in a hospital, there is a question you need to ask before you go that can determine whether you are likely to have safe care or not," said labor and delivery nurse Jen Hamilton. Her multi-part TikTok videos amassed a combined 300,000 views their first 24 hours. "You need to know whether the hospital you are going to give birth in follows AWHONN's safe staffing standards," she continued.
As the Magerstadt Professor of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Khan studies the epidemiology of risk for heart failure. Using population-based cohorts and large electronic health record data analyses, she performs mechanistic studies that may enhance risk prediction and identify novel therapeutic agents for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Khan and her team have developed a tool to predict risk and prevent cardiovascular disease such as heart failure, stroke, arrhythmia, coronary artery disease and many other conditions.
Now, in a twist to the age-old story that even the writing room of "Grey's Anatomy" couldn't have come up with, a man in France was rushed to the operating room after staffers at the Rangueil Hospital in Toulouse found out he had shoved a 37mm brass-and-copper "collectible shell" that was used by the Imperial German Army during World War 1 up his rectum.
A common diabetes medication does not help people with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and without diabetes walk farther, according to results from a major U.S. clinical trial published in JAMA. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a serious condition that affects blood flow to the legs, making walking painful and difficult. It impacts approximately 12 million adults in the U.S. and is linked to higher risks of heart attack and stroke.