Ambulance UK February 2024

NEWSLINE
NEWSLINE
AMBULANCE UK – FEBRUARY
A split picture with images of
Nigel Flanagan meeting his
Manchester United heroes. Left
to right: Marcus Rashford, Sofyan
Ambrabat and Luke Shaw
A paramedic at London
Ambulance Service who
has delivered thousands of
Christmas presents to sick
children was given a surprise
visit to meet his Manchester
United heroes.
For more than a decade, Nigel
Flanagan KAM has organised
collections for children and
families in need at Christmas.
This year a team at BBC
Breakfast decided the selfless
paramedic – and massive Man
United fan – deserved the
ultimate gift this Christmas.
And millions of BBC viewers
watched as Nigel was left
stunned as he came face to face
with his heroes including star
Marcus Rashford and manager
Erik ten Hag.
Dad-of-three Nigel said: ““I’m
actually here, it’s a dream, it’s a
dream, it’s amazing,” and later
reflected, “on the way, I kept
thinking, ‘where are we?’
“When we arrived and saw the
iconic Man United sign I was
speechless. Loads of things were
going through my head – I was
gobsmacked.”
Nigel and his family were also
given a tour of the stadium and
left with a shirt signed by all
the players.
Nigel admitted he was above all
inspired by one particular player
– for his work both on and off
the pitch.
He said: “It was amazing to meet
Marcus Rashford – he’s a very
grounded person and told me to
continue my hard work!
“He’s such a hero and a role
model to me. I admire the fact
that he never forgets his roots and
goes to such lengths to support
people in his community.”
Earlier this year the 38-year-old
received the King’s Ambulance
Medal to recognise the time
he has volunteered to support
London’s communities on top of
an already busy job.
In 2009, he set up Operation
Christmas Present to make sure
that children, sadly away from
home on Christmas day, can
wake up to a present.
Since then, Nigel has delivered
over 30,000 presents and
visited more than 400 hospitals,
children’s A&Es, and women and
children’s refuges with his team
of trusted ‘helpers’ from London
Ambulance Service, who also
volunteer their own time.
The BBC clip, which aired on
Christmas Day, also showed
Nigel at Evelina London
Children’s Hospital meeting some
of the families who benefit from
Operation Christmas Present.
Sue Pruden, play services
manager at Evelina London
Children’s Hospital, said: “We’d
like to say a huge thank you to
Nigel and his colleagues from
London Ambulance Service.
“Their generous donation
makes a huge difference to the
experience of our families who
spend time at Evelina London
over the festive period.
“We try to make Christmas as
special as possible, and this
includes being able to give a
present to every patient.”
Flying the flag for
Yorkshire at the
Cardiac Arrest
Survival Summit
Colleagues at Yorkshire
Ambulance Service (YAS)
attended the Cardiac Arrest
Survival Summit in San
Diego where they shared
their experiences of what
the Trust is doing to improve
out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
survival rates.
Jason Carlyon, Community
Engagement Manager, Helen
Smith, Dispatch Team Leader,
and Louise Boyes, Campaigns
Manager, were invited to the
conference - funded by external
sponsorship - to do a workshop
about the Restart a Heart
campaign which has provided
CPR training to more than
234,000 young people on 10
days over the last 10 years.
The session was attended by
participants from around the world
who will be using our experience
and learning to host similar events
in locations such as California,
Seattle, Colorado and Singapore.
The conference also featured
presentations on:
• How YAS is supporting
bystanders who perform CPR
• The introduction of our Restart
a Heart Ambassador Scheme
where students will be trained
to provide CPR training to
their peers
• Our experience of telephone
guided access and utilisation
of Automated External
Defibrillators
• The experiences of YAS and
Richland Fire and Emergency
Services (Washington) relating
to the development of a
community resuscitation role.
A 90-second video about CPR
made by staff who belong
to the York-based Blue Light
Theatre Company was shown to
conference delegates and came
fourth in a competition being run
as part of the event.
Wakefield Ambulance Care
Assistant Chris Solomons also
attended the conference, his sixth
Cardiac Arrest Survival Summit,
to talk about what has happened
since he had a cardiac arrest
13 years ago. During this time,
he has travelled 11,500 miles
promoting the benefits of CPR
and defibrillation.
Community Engagement
Manager Jason Carlyon said:
“It was a huge honour for us to
be invited to attend the Cardiac
Arrest Survival Summit to share
what we are doing at YAS with an
international audience.
“The format, which enables us to
train huge numbers of students
every year on Restart a Heart
Day, certainly attracted a lot of
attention, as did our plans to
make the event more sustainable
by providing students with more
in-depth CPR training so they can
teach their peers.
“One key theme of the
conference was to focus on how
we are supporting members of
the public who do CPR at the
scene of an emergency. We have
our post-incident care leaflet
which our crews can give to
bystanders but we are keen to
look at further ways of support.
“It was also interesting to note
that many ambulance services,
certainly in the US, don’t routinely
provide CPR instructions
to callers, nor do they give
defibrillator activation information
as there is a reluctance to have
defibrillators in locked cabinets in
communities due to fears of theft
and vandalism. Our presentation
relating to this certainly spiked
interest and many couldn’t
believe we activated 8,930
defibrillators in the last year.”
Citizen CPR Foundation’s biannual
Cardiac Arrest Survival
Summit (29 November to
2 December 2023) brings
together anyone interested in
improving a community response
to sudden cardiac arrest for a
conference to connect, learn and
discuss the newest insights.
Jason added: “Not only were we
able to share information about
what we do at YAS but we are
now looking at how we can use
the learning from others across
the world to strengthen the
chain of survival for our patients
suffering an out-of-hospital
cardiac arrest as well as the
support we give to bystanders,
many of whom are left with
emotional trauma.”
Ambulance
education team
wins prestigious
innovation award
from NHS England
The education team at North
East Ambulance Service
(NEAS) wins the ‘Innovation
Practice Placement of the
Year Award’ at this year’s
Enabling Effective Learning
Environments annual
conference with NHS England.
Congratulations to the education
team at North East Ambulance
Service (NEAS) for winning the
‘Innovation Practice Placement
of the Year Award’ at this year’s
Enabling Effective Learning
Environments annual conference
with NHS England.
The conference, held in
Newcastle, celebrates excellence
in practice education, placements,
and our future workforce.
Innovation Practice Placement
of the Year Award requires
AMBULANCE UK – FEBRUARY
22
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For further recruitment vacancies visit: www.ambulanceukonline.com