Air Ambulance doctor receives OBE
Wednesday, 12 June, 2019
Dr Kevin Fong
Doctor Kevin Fong, a doctor with the Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex, has been awarded an Order of the British Empire in this year’s Queen’s Honours List.
He has been awarded the OBE for his ‘Services to healthcare and medicine’.
Dr Fong is the third member of the Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex team to be recognised for their work by Her Majesty the Queen. Earlier recipients for ‘Services to emergency medicine’ include Medical Director Malcolm Russell, who was awarded an MBE in 2014, and Associate Medical Director, Professor Richard Lyon, presented with an MBE in 2017.
Dr Fong joined the Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex in 2014 as part of the crew providing around-the-clock pre-hospital emergency services. When not at Redhill, the air ambulance’s base, he works at University College Hospital in London where he specialises in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine.
His interest in high risk, high reliability systems, and organisations, began after graduating with degrees in Astrophysics, Medicine and Engineering, during which he spent time working with NASA’s human space exploration programme at Johnson Space Center, Houston.
He is also an honorary senior lecturer in physiology and was very recently appointed as Professor of Public Engagement for Science, Technology & Medicine at University College London.
Commenting on the award, Dr Fong said: "I was utterly bewildered to hear the news of this award.
“It’s one that I genuinely never expected but it's a lovely surprise. I’d like to accept it on behalf of all the brilliant teams I’ve worked with, but especially the Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex family who are a particularly important part of my life. This award represents everybody’s success.”
Dr Helen Bowcock, Chair of Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex, added: “We congratulate Kevin, who along with our doctors, paramedics and pilots, does an amazing job every time the helicopter takes off on a mission, providing lifesaving treatment often in the most extreme of circumstances.”
Dr Fong, aged 47, qualified as a doctor in 1998 and lives in London.
