We were delighted to welcome colleagues and members of the public to our Annual Members Meeting (AMM) recently.

The event, which took place at the South of England Showground at Ardingly, West Sussex, on 13 September, gave attendees the chance to view a variety of stalls showcasing our current work and plans for the future as well as a chance to learn life-saving CPR skills.

Our retirement associations attended to share their experience and knowledge of the ambulance service, alongside a variety of historical medical equipment from through the years.

The formal meeting included detail on the launch of our new clinically-led strategy and refreshed values of courage, kindness and integrity.

The strategy, which was launched last month, sets out our commitment to embrace new technologies as we look to transition from a predominantly ambulance-based response model to a more differentiated approach, where the type of response is tailored to the individual needs of the patient.

You can read more on our strategy here: https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/how-we-do-it/our-vision-and-strategy/

A highlight of the day was when cardiac arrest survivor, Ian Marples, from Woking, made a surprise appearance much to the delight of those attending. Ian, who was recently reunited with the ambulance team who saved his life by delivering an astonishing 15 shocks with a defibrillator. You can read Ian’s story here: https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/woking-man-reunited-with-life-saving-team/

The day concluded with a live demonstration of a full resuscitation, expertly commented on by critical care clinical operations manager, Simon Goodwin. The demonstration took viewers through each stage of an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest detailing the roles of the public, volunteers, ambulance and air ambulance clinicians.

SECAmb Chair, Usman Khan, said: “I would like to thank everyone involved in organising and presenting at our AMM. There is an amazing amount of work taking place across our whole organisation to improve care for patients and the working lives of colleagues. It was fantastic to meet Ian as he shared his story and appreciation to the team who saved his life. He is just one example of the expert care which takes place in SECAmb day-in, day-out.”

For more information about becoming a member of SECAmb visit https://www.secamb.nhs.uk/join-us/become-a-member/