South East Coast Ambulance Service
(SECAmb) has taken delivery of one of its ambulances which has been
specially ‘wrapped’ in a design to appear in this year’s Brighton
and Hove Pride parade.

The cost of wrapping the vehicle was made possible by kind
donations from SECAmb supplier SP Services Ltd and Chilli Graphics
Ltd from East Sussex. The Trust is also grateful to both Unison and
GMB unions for their donations towards the Trust’s attendance at
this year’s event.

SECAmb expects to have more than 100 staff, volunteers, friends
and family, including Chief Executive Daren Mochrie, join the
parade on Saturday (5 August).

The Trust will also host a conference organised by the National
Ambulance LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender) Network at
the Amex Stadium in Brighton tomorrow (4 August).

This year’s conference will focus on five key areas – Mental
health needs of LGBT patients and staff, supporting trans
colleagues, the health and support needs of older LGBT people,
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and promoting dignity and
respect.

Chair of the Pride in SECAmb staff network Will Bellamy said:
“We’re looking forward to another strong turnout at this year’s
Pride parade and the I’m sure the design of the vehicle will be
well received by everyone on the day. We always get fantastic
support from the crowds and I know it is very well received by all
the staff.”

SECAmb is as ever expecting another busy weekend throughout the
city and will have more than 200 staff working across its Brighton
operational area across the weekend with additional support from
volunteer community first responders.

It is urging everyone to enjoy the event but to be sensible to
avoid unnecessary calls to the ambulance service and trips to
A&E.

It is also reminding the public that 999 should only be used in
an emergency. Anyone faced with a medical emergency shouldn’t
hesitate to call but anyone else who needs help is urged to
consider all the other options available to them. This might be
calling NHS 111 for help, where staff can provide support and
advice over the phone and refer patients to out-of-hours services
where appropriate.

Brighton and Hove Operational Unit Manager Tim Fellows added:
“Pride is a friendly and fun event but with any major event with a
large number of people in attendance, we’d expect to see an
increase in calls and it will inevitably be a busy weekend for our
staff. We’d urge people to bear this in mind and remember that 999
should only be dialed in the event of a serious emergency.

“As always, we’ve been working closely with our emergency
service colleagues and St John Ambulance, who provide the main
medical cover for the event and treat many more patients in
addition to those we see.

“We’d also like to remind people for the need to plan their day
ahead and ensure they drink plenty of water, if it’s sunny use sun
cream and look out for each other to avoid the need to call
us.”

When to call 999:

 If you think a patient is suffering from one of the
following you must dial 999 for an ambulance:
• Anyone who isn’t breathing or is in cardiac arrest
• Chest pain for more than 15 minutes (which may be indicative
of a heart attack)
• sudden unexplained shortness of breath
• heavy bleeding
• unconsciousness (even if the patient has regained
consciousness)
• traumatic back/spinal/neck pain (for example injuries from
falls or other accidents, causing severe pain or possible
fractures)

 You should also call for an ambulance if: 
• you think the patient’s illness or injury is
life-threatening
• moving the patient/s without skilled people could cause
further injury