Ambulance UK - June 2021

NEWSLINE
LAS
London Ambulance
Service holds
memorial event
held to remember
colleagues who have
passed away
On Thursday 13 May staff
and volunteers across
London Ambulance Service
came together to remember
colleagues who passed away in
the last year.
At an event outside our
headquarters building, Chief
Executive Garrett Emmerson,
our Trust Board Chair Heather
Lawrence OBE, Deputy Chief
Executive and Chief Operating
Officer Khadir Meer and Chief
Medical Officer Dr Fenella Wrigley
joined a small group of staff in our
new memorial garden.
Garrett and Heather spoke of
the immeasurable loss of our
colleagues. A minute silence was
then held.
This was also an opportunity as
a Service to reflect on what has
been an extremely difficult year
and to come together to support
colleagues who have lost a
loved one during the coronavirus
pandemic.
Due to the coronavirus restrictions
on large gatherings of people, the
event took place with a limited
number of attendees – but it
was live streamed to colleagues
across the Service to watch inbetween
taking 999 and 111 calls,
responding to calls and carrying
out other duties and was made
available for staff and volunteers
to watch back at a time of their
choosing.
Sadly, 19 members of London
Ambulance Service staff and
contractors have passed away
in 2020 and 2021, some with
COVID-19.
The event was the first to be
held in a newly-refurbished area
outside our headquarters building,
in a new memorial garden which
was completed in recent weeks.
The memorial garden was
designed to be a space for our
staff and volunteers to be able
to reflect and to remember all
colleagues we have lost over the
years.
A plaque in the garden reads:
“There are special people in our
lives who never leave us, even
after they are gone.”
London Ambulance Service’s
Chief Executive, Garrett
Emmerson, said:
“The last year has been
extremely difficult for us all,
with the coronavirus pandemic
taking a terrible toll on London
and on communities across the
country.
“Sadly, our organisation
has also experienced the
immeasurable sadness of
losing colleagues – who, as well
as being colleagues, are muchloved
and missed friends.
“This afternoon we came
together to remember them and
to think of their loved ones and
all who have lost someone over
the past year.
“Our new memorial garden will
provide our hard-working teams
a place for quiet reflection
and to remember their late
colleagues and friends for years
to come.”
SWASFT
Assaults against
ambulance
colleagues rise
during pandemic
South Western Ambulance
Service NHS Foundation
Trust (SWASFT) workers are
continuing to experience an
escalating number of assaults
and abuse by patients.
SWASFT colleagues reported
1,747 incidents of violence and
aggression from patients and
other members of the public
during the 12 months after the UK
first went into lockdown last year.
The figures, from 24 March 2020
to 23 March 2021, include 515
verbal abuse incidents, 447
aggressive behaviour incidents,
and 322 physical assaults.
They represent a 33% increase
in reported incidents from the
previous 12 months.
Newly Qualified Paramedics Dan
Williams and Kyiah Ellis were
among those assaulted on duty
by a patient.
They responded to a potentially
serious incident, involving a man
who was reportedly unconscious
on a bus, in the Weston area of
Bath on 12 February.
The man, who appeared to be
under the influence of drugs,
became physically and verbally
aggressive soon after they arrived
around 6.50pm.
AMBULANCE UK - JUNE
He exited the bus, headbutted its
wing mirror and windscreen, and
punched a parked car.
Dan and Kyiah called for police
assistance and retreated onto the
bus for their safety.
The man re-entered the bus
and spat in Dan’s eye, while
84
For further recruitment vacancies visit: www.ambulanceukonline.com