Ambulance staff praised in annual awards

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb) staff gathered for the second of the Trust's annual awards ceremonies and were honoured in categories including long service, patient care, going beyond the call of duty and leadership.

The ceremony, for the East of SECAmb's region, was held last week (Thursday 14 March) at Oakwood House Hotel in Maidstone, Kent. The event also recognised an off-duty London fire fighter for his life-saving actions, a dedicated community first responder, retired staff and the long service of voluntary car drivers.

Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, Lord Paul Condon, attended to present Queen's Medals for Long Service & Good Conduct behalf of The Queen. The medal is presented to ambulance staff that have completed 20 years' service in a front-line capacity. Awards for 20 and 30 years' combined ambulance and NHS service were also presented.

SECAmb Chief Executive Paul Sutton said: "Every single award winner deserved the recognition they received. The award winners represent just a handful of examples of the amazing care, skill and dedication our patients receive every day.

"I was also delighted to meet past members of the ambulance service whose commitment and length of service is truly humbling. I'd also like to pay tribute to all of our volunteers who all play such a vital role and to every member of the public who has ever stopped to help someone before our arrival at the scene of an emergency."

Chief Executive Commendations were awarded in a number of categories (see list below for further details).

The commendations included a clinical excellence award to paramedics Claire Leech, Alan Cowley and Nigel Hammond and Emergency Care Support Worker Amy Moore, from Hastings for their involvement in an extremely challenging incident in the town last year which sadly despite their best efforts proved fatal.

The team were nominated for the treatment they provided to a 17-year-old boy who had been stabbed. Having been sent to the incident, the team were informed to hold back until police arrived. But before the police arrived, the team received an update that the young man was in cardiac arrest. Despite the potential risk to their own safety, they took the decision to go to the patient and performed skilfully as a team to try and revive him. The air ambulance team were extremely impressed by the crews' skills when they arrived and they provided a comprehensive handover and continued to support the efforts to save the young man's life.

In nominating, SECAmb Senior Operations Manager James Pavey said: "They did a fantastic job. Only the drastic nature of the patient's injuries prevented a better outcome."

A Chief Executive Public Commendation was awarded to off-duty London fire fighter Stefan Izod, who carried our vital CPR on a woman when he came across a serious road traffic collision. Stefan, who at the time lived in Seabook, Kent, but who has now moved to Warkwickshire, was collecting his caravan from New Romney in Kent when he came across the collision which had just taken place between a car and a motorbike.

It was only as he walked towards the scene to speak with two other people who had stopped to help that he noticed someone lying in the road. It was then that the seriousness of the situation became clear.

The patient, Janice Howe, who also attended the ceremony with her family was seriously injured and had stopped breathing. Without hesitation, Stefan started CPR. After a few minutes, ambulance clinicians, Clive Goddard and Amanda Muldoon arrived. They were so impressed with his compressions that they asked him to continue while they prepared the defibrillator to administer a shock.

Clive said "The defibrillator pads were placed on the patient's chest and we administered a shock and suddenly Janice, in what I can only describe as a 'Baywatch Moment', took a huge breath. Stefan then said he could feel a heartbeat. I think by giving this commendation to Stefan it highlights and reinforces the hands only CPR campaign running with the British Heart Foundation and proves that it works!"

Medway Community First Responder (CFR) Mel Carter, who volunteers for the Hoo and Cliffe scheme won the CFR of the Year award for her dedication to her role but primarily for the treatment she provided to a man who had collapsed last year.

In the minutes before the ambulance arrived, Mel was able to administer CPR and use a defibrillator to shock and ultimately save the man's life.

Voluntary Services Manager, Karen Ramnauth, said: "She did an exceptionally good job. The reports received from all concerned on that day were that Mel's performance was outstanding and way beyond the expectations of a CFR."

Further commendations were presented in the following categories
Employee of the Year - Jon Amos (Banstead HQ, Surrey) Jon was primarily nominated for this award for his work in planning the Trust's role in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Planning for the games presented a significant challenge for the Trust with the Torch Relay in SECAmb's area for a total of five days, men's and women's road cycling in Surrey, and Paralympic cycling at Brands Hatch. In addition, the Trust provided London Ambulance Service with staff in support of their response to the Games.

Jon, whose previous role was Contingency Planning and Resilience Manager, led the Trust's Olympic and Paralympic planning from the outset, which involved all areas of the organisation, as well as working with a range of national and local partners.

Jon was also one of the Trust's Tactical Advisers for the A3 coach crash in Hindhead, Surrey in September 2012. This was a complex and difficult incident for all those involved. However, Jon supported the Emergency Operation Centre staff in the early stages of the incident as well as the commanders on scene which helped ensure a professional and effective response to the incident.

Leadership - Alison Brown (Paddock Wood Make Ready Centre)

Alison was nominated by Clinical Operations Manager Mark Spicer for the leadership she displayed when undertaking improvement works to the Ambulance Community Response Posts in Kent. Unhappy with the standard of some of the posts in the area, Alison decided not to simply moan about the problem but instead set about making a difference.

After outlining the issues she was given the task to take the improvement works forward. Alison took it upon herself to visit all the Ambulance Community Response Posts in the Weald and South Kent areas. She worked together with SECAmb's estate maintenance team and the finance department looking at costs and provision of tools to redecorate the posts. With the support of staff, Alison and others rolled up their sleeves and started the improvement works. The results speak for themselves as the posts are cleaner, more appealing and fit for purpose.

Leadership - Paramedic Practitioners Christine Mummery, Folkestone and Dorien Rapley-Hawkins, Haywards Heath (Dorien received her award at the Trust's first ceremony on 28 February).

It was the leadership exhibited by Dorien and Christine in setting up the Paramedic Practitioner (PP) desk in the Kent and Sussex Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) that prompted a nomination from PP co coordinator, Julie Ormrod.

The desk was put in place to improve Paramedic Practitioner referrals and to provide clinical support to crews.
The results speak for themselves. Between May 2011 and May 2012, PP referrals increased by over 600%, and since last August the PP desks collectively took more than 1,000 calls per month. The PP desk has a conveyance rate of its own - incidents discussed with a PP in the EOC result in conveyance in only 14% of calls.

The PP desk has been very successful and this was in part down to the hard work of all the PPs working in the EOC role, but the initial hard work of Chris and Dorien who made the launch more effective than initially anticipated.

Long service awards for retired staff

This year we also recognised the dedication of past staff who, due to unforeseen circumstances, were unable to accept their long service medals and awards before they retired. Ken Smith of Kent Ambulance's Retirement Association paid tribute to his colleagues and all staff present and SECAmb Chairman Tony Thorne presented the awards.