East of England Ambulance Service News

Two on-call firefighters from Tiptree Fire Station have been awarded Chief Fire Officer Commendations for their exemplary actions after they saved a man's life. Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive Officer Rick Hylton presented Crew Manager Glenn Lambard and Firefighter Woody Whymark with their awards at Tiptree Fire Station on Monday 8 July, with crew members and family members celebrating their achievements. First aid help In the summer of 2023, Woody was a passenger in his friend’s car...

Frinton and Dunmow Fire Stations have become new response posts for the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) as part of an ongoing collaboration project with Essex County Fire and Rescue Service (ECFRS). The three-year project which has already gone live, will see the Ambulance Service using fire service stations as response posts. benefit to emergency services This partnership will bring resources closer to local communities as well as benefit the staff of both emergency servi...

GMB Union has announced industrial action ballot dates for more than 15,000 ambulance workers across 11 trusts in England and Wales for strike action. Ambulance workers from London, East of England, East and West Midlands, North East, Yorkshire, North West, South Central, South East Coast, South West, and Wales Ambulance trusts will participate in the strike vote. strike ballots Thousands more NHS workers will also be balloted across other NHS trusts, with more votes set to follow Thousands...

London Ambulance Service faces a strike vote as GMB Union launches a formal industrial action ballot. Ballot dates will be announced in the coming days. The vote comes following a consultative ballot which saw almost 92 percent of LAS members who voted say they were in favor of a walkout.  Reason for strike GMB has more than 1,500 LAS paramedics and ambulance workers who are angry over the Government’s imposed 4 percent pay award, which leaves them facing yet another massive real-t...

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) has been recognized as an exemplar in providing the best standards of care and support to the Armed Forces community. At a ceremony at the Trust’s headquarters in Melbourn at the end of November, EEAST received the Veteran Aware accreditation by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant for Cambridgeshire, Mrs. Julie Spence OBE QPM. EEAST had become the second ambulance service to be given this gold-standard accreditation from the Veterans Cov...

Crews from two Norfolk Fire Stations are working with the East of England Ambulance Service to respond to some medical incidents in Norfolk, United Kingdom (UK). The scheme, which is currently underway, sees Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) crews responding to adult cases of cardiac arrest within areas surrounding Sheringham and North Walsham Fire Stations. The Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service crew are co-responding to incidents, along with the East of England Ambulance Service. The trial...

A fire broke out in the Abbey View tower block in Watford on Tuesday 12 July 2022, caused by arson in the block’s bin storage area. The emergency services were called to the incident on Garsmouth Way, Watford at around 4:50 am, as the fire was spreading to flats on the lower floors of the 17-story block. Residents were evacuated from 94 of the tower’s flats.  Cause of fire The East of England ambulance service has confirmed that “other than one person treated on-scene f...

The results of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection into the East of England Ambulance Service Trust have been published. Inspectors carried out a comprehensive inspection of the Trust’s emergency and urgent care service and emergency operations center in April before returning to inspect the ‘well-led’ element of the Trust in May. The CQC found the Trust had made a ‘marked improvement’ on significant and long-standing cultural issues that had led to i...

East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) has held two special ceremonies to celebrate and thank its dedicated staff who have together clocked up more than 9,700 years of service.  A total of 470 frontline and support staff were invited to the award evenings held at Wyboston in Bedfordshire and Newmarket in Suffolk in late June to mark service of 20, 35, and 40 years. In addition, 154 staff were also presented with the Queen’s Medal, which marks 20 years of frontline service. &n...

At least one person has died and three others have been taken to hospital as a result of a fire and explosion at a block of flats on Redwood Grove, Bedford, just after 9 am on Monday 4 July. Of those affected, two people were seriously injured, and a firefighter was hospitalized for smoke inhalation after the fire. East of England Ambulance Service airlifted one person to Addenbrooke’s Hospital with leg injuries. cause of the explosion Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service have confirmed...

Doctors, nurses, and other health and social care professionals have jumped on board ambulances to bring new eyes to the fight to end delays for patients. The medical teams joined colleagues at East of England Ambulance Service Trust as they carried out their work to better understand the issues behind delays for patients and help identify ways to resolve them. Healthcare professionals join the shifts As part of work to reduce delays across Mid and South Essex, EEAST chief executive officer T...

EEAST has joined forces with Hertfordshire Constabulary to roll out the life-saving GoodSAM scheme so that people who suffer a cardiac arrest get help as soon as possible.  The scheme, which went live in late May, allows frontline officers, PCSOs, specials, and first aid trained staff to voluntarily attend nearby incidents where somebody is in suspected cardiac arrest so that they can start CPR until an ambulance arrives. GoodSAM app Officers are notified via the GoodSAM app on their pho...

The contributions made by selfless volunteers who provide life-saving care in emergencies, transport patients to vital appointments, and offer a variety of other essential support are being hailed by the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST). EEAST is thanking its army of nearly 1,000 volunteers during volunteers’ week, which begins on 1 June and runs until 7 June. They include: Around 900 community first responders (CFRs), leap into action to tackle medical emergencies in the...

The East of England Ambulance Service Charity has secured a grant of more than £116,000 for an innovative approach to help patients get the help they need. The charity won the funds from NHS Charities Together for developing a way to signpost patients with ‘unmet needs’ to wider community support pathways. The funds have been awarded thanks to the Ambulance Grants Programme which was launched by NHS Charities Together in March 2021 in recognition of the vital work that am...

The East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) is asking for the public’s help, as it prepares for a busy Easter Bank Holiday weekend. The service is urging the public to plan ahead and take extra care over the long weekend, which is the first bank holiday since COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. Emergency service The East of England Ambulance Service asks for help by choosing the right service when medical attention is needed. If it is not a life-threatening emergency, EEAST urges...

East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) is pleased to announce that from Monday (11th April 2022), EEAST will be alerting GoodSAM responders to patients within a 2 mile radius. EEAST has many rural areas, which are difficult to get to. By increasing this radius it will increase the chances to notify more GoodSAM responders of patients in cardiac arrest. For GoodSAM responders who live and work in more urban areas, there is a manual override.

The East of England Ambulance Trust (EEAST) is helping the NHS donate a fleet of ambulances to provide urgent care for those injured by Russian attacks in Ukraine. The donation of around 20 ambulances will help bring vital life-saving care to Ukrainians in towns and cities under attack from Russian bombardments. The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust and South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust are heading the way after both offering four vehicles. Fleet of new Ambulance f...

A recruitment roadshow to attract more community first responders (CFRs) starts in North Norfolk. Andrew Barlow, the Community Response Manager in Norfolk and Waveney, will be on hand at various locations across North Norfolk to explain the role of CFRs in supporting their local community and the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST). Community first responders (CFRs) are volunteers who work alongside colleagues from the ambulance service and respond to situations within their local communi...

Tom Morgan, Josh Hollebon, Tom Woods and Stuart Long from the Yare Valley Churches running club have each run 92 miles during February to complete the virtual challenge by surpassing the mileage an ambulance covers on an average shift. The team chose the mileage clocked-up by crews at their local station in Longwater. Completing the target We have completed similar feats previously and were keen for something new" Tom Woods said: “We have completed similar feats previously and were kee...

The East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) is the first NHS Trust to have signed up to UNISON’s new Anti-Racism Charter, which aims to help tackle racism in the public sector. The charter commits organizations and their leaders to a raft of pledges designed to prevent all forms of conscious or unconscious racial bias.  This includes championing a racially diverse workforce, recognizing the impact of racism on staff well-being and regularly reviewing its strategies to improve racia...

The Mayor of Cambridge visited Cambridge Ambulance Station to find out more about a project that has been helping Community First Responders (CFR) support patients across a broader area of the region by introducing designated vehicles for them based at stations. The Mayor, Councillor Russ McPherson, inspected the recently delivered Vauxhall Crossland which has already responded to 60 patients since it was delivered to Cambridge Station in December 2021. The car is one of six operating across th...

Smarter Metering Services Limited and its sister company - Gas Emergency UK Limited has donated a fully operational rapid response vehicle to the RAF Henlow Military Co-Responders, who support EEAST’s teams. Tom Ward, CEO at Smarter Metering, said “We are proud to be able to support these responders and allow them to reach more people in need and continue their incredible work, which is all completely voluntary.”  fully operational rapid response vehicle Tom Abell, Chie...

Three Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs) will be trialled by  East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) as part of the NHS’s move towards zero emissions vehicles. EEAST has successfully bid for £250,000 from NHS England which will fund two electric Skoda all-wheel drive cars, an electric Vauxhall van, their conversion to medically equipped response vehicles and the necessary charging infrastructure for each of the vehicles. The funding is part of a new NHS England pilot...

From 2nd February 2022, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) will be increasing the number of GoodSAM volunteers notified of patients in cardiac arrest. GoodSAM application The GoodSAM application has been used at EEAST to notify appropriately trained staff, volunteers and registered health care professionals of patients in cardiac arrest, within 800 meters of their location. EEAST commenced a trial to deploy staff trained in basic life support (CPR) to these patients. This...

NHS Charities Together has awarded £508,689 to East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust Charitable Funds. These funds will be used to enhance the role of community first responders (CFRs) across the East of England, who are trained volunteers dispatched to emergency incidents when every second counts. The funds have been awarded thanks to the Ambulance Grants Program which was launched by NHS Charities Together in March 2021 in recognition of the vital work that ambulance charities do...

EEAST Paramedic, Paul Chittock, has been awarded a Station Commander’s Commendation, marking 15 years of voluntary support for RAF colleagues based at Marham air force base in Norfolk. Paul’s volunteering has seen him working on everything from events and first aid training to critical incident scenarios, this is all alongside his day job with EEAST as a Paramedic, based at Kings Lynn. Over the years of service, Paul Chittock has provided medical cover and education for Family and F...

EEAST is pleased to announce that Dr. Simon Walsh has joined EEAST as Interim Medical Director. Having worked in several hospitals in the East of England during his training program, Simon was appointed as an Emergency Medicine Consultant and Paediatric Emergency Medicine specialist at the Royal London Hospital in 2004.  Experience  He started pre-hospital care in 2014, flying with London's Air Ambulance. After moving to live in Hertfordshire he joined Essex & Herts Air Ambulance...

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust is pleased to announce the appointment of three permanent executives to join the leadership team. Hein Scheffer, joining as Director of Strategy Culture and Education in April 2022 Marika Stephenson, joining as Director of People Services on 1st December 2021 Emma De-Carteret, as Director of Corporate Affairs and Performance on 1st December 2021 Hein Scheffer I am excited to make a constructive contribution to the Ambulance Trust, its...

Shortly before 2.30 pm, the Computer Aided Dispatch and telephony systems experienced a failure. The national contingency plan was enacted and 999 calls were rerouted to neighboring ambulance services while the fault was traced and fixed. The systems are up and running. East of England Ambulance Services also liaised with other blue-light services to ensure they were aware and could contact by other means. They would like to thank the staff who have worked incredibly hard to support patients an...

The public is being urged to enjoy Bonfire Night safely on Friday, 5th November, 2021. Every year, the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is called to people who have injuries related to bonfires or fireworks, the majority of which could have been avoided. EEAST strongly advises that people attend a professionally organized firework display, but, if they are planning on organizing their own event, here are the top tips: Keep fireworks in a closed box and use them one a...