PocketClinician


PocketClinician was founded in November 2021 by Sam Bowden – Paramedic. It was founded with a mission to provide educational content to our consumers. We started with a simple student paramedic pocketbook giving an over view of key things to remember whilst practicing as a paramedic, covering key topics from documentation, history taking and patient assessment. This book was aimed at student paramedics and all other pre-hospital clinicians as a handy pocket prompt. We started without any real brand, creating the books from home by hand. Fast forward to 2022 when we first approached a print company to produce our first official edition of what is now the student Paramedic pocketbook. Since then we have continued to grow from strength to strength. Later in 2022 we found our brand identity as PocketClinician, built our website and social media pages and began to provide free educational content to our consumers to support our product range. We developed further products including our now retired age per page pocket cards.
 
In April 2023 we launched our podcast, Bullhorns & Sirens, with the aim to continue to spread our mission of free educational content and to raise further exposure to our main brand. In the meantime we continued to work on our future product line. 
 
In October 2023 we welcomed on board our business partner Tommy Knight – Ambulance Technician and Apprentice Paramedic. Tommy had been previously contributing to the PocketClinician company and wanted to join our mission more permanently. Tommy developed our next major project which saw the launch of our second pocketbook, Beating the Basics 12 lead ECG book. With our new book and partner on board we decided it was time to refresh our services, define our branding, re visit our vision and values and continue our growth. 
 
Now in 2024 we have two clear brands with a shared vision. 

Tommy Knight - Partner


I'm Tommy! My ambulance career started at the age of 18 as an emergency call handler taking 999 calls. I then became a dispatcher a few years later. These roles gave me an amazing insight into the workings of the ambulance service and I learned the fundamentals of handling myself under pressure. I decided to take a step in the clinical direction in 2018 and trained as an emergency care support worker, I continued my clinical career and later qualified as an ambulance technician in 2020.

I am currently studying the student paramedic apprenticeship degree through Cumbria university via my trust.

There are so many brilliant podcasts out there regarding pre-hospital care, but they focus on the clinical aspects of the job. I tried so hard to find a podcast about the other aspects of the job, but couldn't find any out there. This is where we decided to form the Bullhorns & Sirens podcast under our brand PocketClinician.

Outside of work I am a successful, professional magician, performing at weddings, birthdays, corporate events and much more. I have a beautiful daughter and a fiancée who both keep me on my toes. I tend not to take thing too seriously and am always trying to work how to prank and joke with the other co-hosts.

Sam Bowden - Partner


I'm Sam! I co-founded the PocketClinician brand and subsequent podcast with Tommy and our editor James! We launched PocketClinician because wanted to create a free to use educational space and platform, providing where possible as much free content to student paramedics. We launched our podcast with the same idea and ethos. We wanted a medical podcast that had a bit of a difference and to focus on individuals within our profession to be able to share knowledge and learn from their experiences.

I am a Paramedic, I started as an emergency care support worker and completed an internal programme to progress to associate ambulance practitioner and then finally Paramedic. I have always wanted to be a Paramedic for as long as I can remember, I count myself to be very fortunate to be in the role I am in! I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing people in some different roles throughout my career as a paramedic, I've worked across some of the busiest events and festivals around the UK and have worked alongside paediatric specialists as part of the retrieval teams within London.

Outside of work I love paddle boarding, camping and exploring the outdoors. I have two beautiful children that keep me busy as well.

Poppy Skillings - Podcast Producer


Hi My name is Poppy! I joined the ambulance service in 2022 after three years working backstage at a television studio. After three years in what I thought was my life long career, I found I had a hankering for putting out more good into the world, and fell into the medical field.

I’m currently an Emergency Care Support Worker, attending all the same jobs as the paramedics in the service, and will be training to be a paramedic after some time on the student paramedic apprenticeship. For me, this is easier than going straight back to university as I had been working for the last 8 years consistently and didn’t want to go back to full time education. 

I listen to tonnes of podcasts regularly, and studied TV and radio during my brief initial stint at university, so I am really excited to be joining the boys on their journey. 

Outside of work I’m a big fan of yoga and meditation, I find both clear my head after a day at work, and can often be found scouring charity shops and antiques markets for furniture to upcycle! Other than this my other hobbies involve eating up as much knowledge as I can about the natural world, walking and camping, as well as a recent divergence into ballroom and Latin dance. Though I doubt you’ll ever see me on Strictly!

James Savage - Editor


I'm James, a HART Paramedic with a keen interest in Critical Care. I am one of the original hosts and founders of the podcast, I recently took a step back to focus on career progression. I edit the podcast for now and keep the boys and Poppy out of trouble. I have a cat and love escaping away in my camper.