Five years to the day after her heart stopped beating without warning, now 30-year-old Demi Buxton stood face-to-face with the SECAmb team who shocked her back to life. Demi, a Metropolitan Police officer, was with her friend and colleague Saf, collecting Saf’s daughter from school in Rochester, Kent, when she collapsed on 8 January 2020. When Saf returned to the car, she found Demi slumped over a
A routine welfare visit took a frightening turn for 41-year-old Victoria Page when she discovered her 86-year-old grandmother, Janet unresponsive on the bathroom floor. What was meant to be a quick check-in before Victoria started work very quickly turned into a race against time to get her nan help. Thankfully, the swift response of SECAmb colleagues made all the difference. To show their appreci
UPDATE: Incident stood down at 8.15am on 9 January following a stable position over night. We are currently experiencing an email issue that is limiting our ability to communicate effectively with some of our NHS partners. Patients calling 999 or 111 are not affected and should continue to use our services as needed. As a result of this IT issue, we have declared a Business Continuity Incident (BC
Our Chair, Usman Khan, has shared with colleagues his decision to leave SECAmb in March of this year to take up a full-time Executive Director role elsewhere in the NHS. We will now work closely with our Council of Governors to appoint a new chair to ensure stability. In December 2024 we announced that we had begun to work with our colleagues at South Central Ambulance Service to explore creating
South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) would like to thank its staff and volunteers for their hard work and commitment throughout the festive and New Year period. The Trust would also like to thank the public for its support in recent weeks and is urging everyone to use its services wisely as demand is expected to remain high. On Boxing Day SECAmb answered more than 3,000 calls to 999. Across
A community worker from Medway gave thanks to his niece’s quick-thinking CPR as he was reunited with the team of SECAmb colleagues who helped to save his life. Peter O’Donnell, 67, was joined by his sister Annie and niece Shannon for a heart-warming reunion with colleagues at Medway Make Ready Centre (MRC), where they reflected on that night in August 2024, that ultimately changed their lives. Wha
While unlucky for some, Friday 13 December proved to a very lucky day for a retired Steyning woman who was reunited with her lifesavers four years to the day after she suffered a massive cardiac arrest. Delivering a total of 10 shocks to her heart, the SECAmb team were delighted to meet 73-year-old Sue Yarnall at Banstead Make Ready Centre last week. The emotional reunion brought together Advanced
A Chichester man who collapsed in cardiac arrest after completing Bognor Regis parkrun, is urging others to take the time to learn how to save a life after being reunited with the ambulance crew who came to his aid. Former police officer, and experienced runner for Chichester Runners, David Knowles, 57, collapsed moments after crossing the finish line on 2 November this year. Fellow runners and pa
With a week to go until the big day, South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb), is reminding members of the public to tick off a number of tasks to help keep them safer and healthier this Christmas and New Year. People are urged to order any required repeat prescriptions and check that home medicine cabinets don’t contain out-of-date medication. The service is also asking people to check on vuln
We are pleased to share that we have recently made two, new permanent appointments to our Executive Team following competitive external recruitment processes. Sarah Wainwright has been confirmed as Chief People Officer and Simon Bell as Chief Finance Officer. Sarah joined SECAmb in April 2024 as Interim Director of HR & OD and prior to this, was Regional Deputy Director of Workforce at NHS Eng