Dorset

My name is Tom and I am a former child. Most people who know me know that I haven’t really ever got past this stage.  

I knew, from a young age, that I wanted to pursue a career in health care, and after starting as a Cadet with St. John Ambulance at the age of eight, I realised that I wanted to work for the ambulance service. I volunteered with St. John until the age of twelve and again later in life.  

Once I had finished secondary school, I attended college but was unsure of what direction to take as the pathways were not as defined as they are now, and it wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I started in the caring field.   

Initially, I worked with the elderly with dementia and then I worked with adults with learning difficulties, which involved supporting them in their day-to-day tasks, advocating for them when required, and empowering them to make informed decisions about their well-being and life choices. This was a job that I got enormous satisfaction from and was encouraged to go into the management of the home. This was not what I wanted as I still wanted to be able to support those 'on the ground floor'.   

Instead, I applied for Emergency Care Assistant (ECA) at South Western Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST).  I was successful in the application at the end of 2006 and commenced my ECA training in March 2007. This involved five weeks of clinical study and three weeks of driving, including my Blue Light Driving.  I was stationed at Yeovil in Somerset, and this gave me a good overview of how the ambulance service worked as it was a busy station with many clinicians to gain knowledge from.   

Early in my career in the Ambulance service, I stepped up to help support our local Community First Responder (CFR) group, which was based in Bridport. Here I acted as a Responder Liaisons Officer (RLO) and assisted the Community Responder Officer (CRO), who was a lady called Emma Marks, and later David Toman.  This allowed me not only to see what the CFRs do but also how they directly impact patient outcomes and patient experience.  During my short time helping, I was able to assist with supporting the volunteers, being a contact for them if they had any issues, and helping with training and recruiting, which included sitting on interview panels for potential CFRs. Due to the group losing numbers, this role was not continued, although I did still help with the occasional training evening if needed for other groups. 

In 2016, I applied for the University of the West of England, Diploma in Higher Education (DipHE) in Paramedic Science, and again I was successful in getting onto the course. I qualified as a Paramedic in February 2019 and was awarded Best Overall Student. I completed my Newly Qualified Paramedic (NQP) period in February 2021.  During my time studying, I offered to help another group of CFRs who are based in Chard and the surrounding areas; this was under the watchful eye of George Pemble-Vincent (CRO). During my time supporting this group, I was asked to undertake a teaching qualification, which was done, over lockdown, and I obtained my Award in Education and Training (AET). This has allowed me to support my group even more by being able to offer them training sessions, and I have helped create some training material to help support this as well as using pre-provided material.  I am passionate about the responder role as I have seen, firsthand, how early intervention can save someone’s life.  To be able to have someone in the local vicinity who not only knows what to do but has the confidence to do it is amazing. I feel privileged to be able to support this group of volunteers who give their time freely to support their local community and receive no financial gain.