A South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) Critical Care Paramedic (CCP) has achieved an extraordinary feat by conquering one of the most challenging ski mountaineering expeditions in the world, all in support of The Intensive Care Society. On Tuesday, 9 April, Paddock Wood CCP, Jim Walmsley, together with his team, completed the Patrouille des Glaciers, covering a total of more than 70km of up
A father from Dartford who suffered a heart attack at his home has been reunited with the two ambulance service colleagues who helped save his life. Ian Harris, 52, from Dartford, Kent was washing his car at his home on the evening of 20 May, 2023, when he started to feel pain and discomfort in his hands, as well as coming over flustered and dizzy. Through his many years of watching 999 programmes
We are pleased to confirm that Margaret Dalziel has been appointed into the substantive role of Executive Director of Quality & Nursing, following a competitive recruitment process. Margaret joined SECAmb in April 2022, initially as the Deputy Director of Quality & Nursing and for the last 12 months, has been the Interim Director She is a paediatric nurse and leader who has worked in the N
The Trust’s next community forum will be an opportunity for the public and patients to learn more and share their views. The virtual Community Forum, which is open to anyone who has an interest in attending, will take place on Wednesday, 24 April from 6pm until 7.30pm. During this session, Community Resilience Lead, Tara Burn, will be speaking on her NHS England Fellowship project looking at the p
A clinical co-ordination hub organised and implemented by South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, (SECAmb), in partnership with East Kent Hospitals staff at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate is delivering positive early results. The hub, based at SECAmb’s Thanet Make Ready Centre, in Ramsgate, follows trials established at the Trust’s Paddock Wood and Ashfor
Patients are now able to instantly submit feedback on their experience using our 999 service via brand new patient experience stickers which are now available in ambulances across our Trust. Building on the success of our patient feedback cards which were launched earlier this year, these new stickers are conveniently placed in ambulances, serving as a visual reminder that our patients’ voices m
An Ashford father of three who suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in May 2022 has been reunited, alongside his family, with some of the ambulance team who helped save his life. Gerard Quinn, 59, from Ashford, Kent, was at his family home with wife Jenny, daughter, Elizabeth and son, Solomon when he collapsed on 29 May, 2022. After calling 999, wife Jenny was able to move Gerard to a safe space
Two teams of volunteer Emergency Responders, (ERs), participating in a trial to understand how they can improve patient care, have responded to hundreds of seriously ill patients over the past year. The first team of responders began operating out South East Coast Ambulance Service’s (SECAmb’s) Ashford operating unit, in Kent, in February 2023, focussing primarily on the Romney Marsh area. The sec
Right Care, Right Person, (RCRP), is a national partnership approach led by police services alongside ambulance services, hospitals, mental health services and social services. It aims to ensure vulnerable people with health and social care needs are responded to by the most appropriate specialist service. The model recognises that many people in mental health crisis will often see a police offic
The use of a defibrillator on cardiac arrest patients, prior to the arrival of ambulance crews, is vital in improving cardiac arrest survival rates, a report published today by South East Coast Ambulance Service, (SECAmb), shows. The report, which looks at out-of-hospital cardiac arrests attended by SECAmb between April 2022 and March 2023, reveals that if a defibrillator is used prior to its arri