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Every year Guernsey’s ambulance services respond to almost 10,000 cases across both the emergency and non-emergency services and now the organisation has now launched a recruitment campaign to fill a number of vacancies.
St John Ambulance and Rescue Service (SJARS) provides both emergency ambulance operations, which accounts for more than 6,500 calls and the non-emergency patient transfer service which attends nearly 3000 cases.
SJARS is looking to appoint Emergency Care Assistants (ECAs) and Ambulance Care Assistants (ACAs) to maintain and increase resilience across the operation.
ECAs work a part of double-crewed ambulance alongside paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians as an integral part of the frontline emergency service and are trained to deliver pre-hospital care and treatment to the sick and injured.
ACAs transport patients to and from medical appointment, dialysis treatment and other outpatient consultations, where people are unable to travel by other means.
Head of Operations Dean de la Mare said: “Working for the ambulance service is very rewarding. It is a career where you can make a real difference to people lives when it really matters. The ECA role can be a good entry point for someone wanting to start a career in the ambulance service, we have seen a number of our ECAs training to become Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics. We are currently recruiting to fill vacant positions and additional roles, which will help us increase our overall resilience. Over recent years we have seen a trend of increased demand for our services.”
Nicky Strong who used to work in sales and marketing had a career change and joined to Non-Emergency Patient Transfer Service 4 years ago as an Ambulance Care Assistant, before gaining promotion to the role of NEPTS team leader. She said: “To do this job you need to be a people person, with good communication skills and perhaps most importantly a caring nature. We spend a lot of time on the road, traveling to and from hospital and other health sites, so you also need to enjoy driving and have a reasonable level of fitness, as there is some manual handling. You get to meet lots of people and at the end of every day you know you’ve made a difference.”
Head of Human Resources Karen Ferneyhough added: “We will provide all the necessary training to a nationally recognised level and provide opportunities for new colleagues to work alongside experienced ambulance clinicians to consolidate their training. We also support people who want to progress to higher clinical levels, with further training and qualifications for suitable candidates.”
St John also provides the Flying Christine III marine ambulance staffed by paramedic led medical crews which is a lifeline for the other islands of the Bailiwick. Details of the current vacancies can be found at stjohn.gg/recruitment
