Ambulance service thank St John volunteers
St John Ambulance volunteers have been
honoured in an award ceremony by West Midlands Ambulance
Service.
The service held its annual Volunteers Awards Ceremony at the
Three Counties Hotel in Hereford recently to highlight the work of
the thousands of volunteers who help the service every single day.
They particularly wanted to thank dedicated St John
Ambulance volunteers for their support during the toughest winter
for 20 years.
Trust Chief Executive, Anthony Marsh, said: 'The winter brought
particular difficulties for all of the emergency services and
volunteers played a vital role in maintaining normal 999
operations.
One of the Trusts biggest supporters has been St John Ambulance. They have always been flexible with their approach and are often available at short notice.
Anthony Marsh
Trust Chief Executive
'We had the worst snow for 20 years and the biggest outbreak of
flu for 10 years. Add to that there were unprecedented numbers of
999 calls right across the country. The support we received from
our volunteers was magnificent.
'One of the Trusts biggest supporters has been St John
Ambulance. They have always been flexible with their approach and
are often available at short notice. Over the winter they helped to
get staff into work and also the extra 4x4 capability they were
able to provide meant that they also helped support frontline crews
trying to get to patients in remote locations.
'During the busy bank holiday periods when a Temporary Minor
Injuries Unit is set up in Birmingham City Centre, we are never
short of volunteers to assist in the smooth and effective
running of the unit, another example of the close
partnerships we enjoy.
'It is for the dedication, professionalism and
enthusiasm all the St John Ambulance members show that has
led to this Chief Officers Commendation being awarded.'
Accepting the award was Harry Dymond, the Chief Commissioner
Operations for England. He said: 'This winter was exceptional.
Across the country, St John Ambulance provided over 90,000 hours of
duty to ambulance services; a magnificent achievement from our
volunteers.
'Volunteers are special people – ordinary people doing
extraordinary things. They don’t do it for praise but we
all appreciate occasions such as this.'