Supporting the mental health of ambulance first responders
Deputy Managing Director, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives
Improving the health and wellbeing of the workforce is a priority area for UK ambulance services in their ambition to become employers of choice. At the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE), we seek to support our member trusts – all UK NHS ambulance services – in recognising and responding to the mental health needs of their staff.
At our second global paramedic leadership alliance employee mental health summit in March, ambulance service colleagues from the USA cited Naomi Rachel Remen:
“The expectation that we can be immersed in suffering and loss daily yet not be touched by it is as unrealistic as expecting to be able to walk through water without getting wet.”
This is, oh, so true when it comes to the paramedic profession, as well as our staff in emergency operations centres responding to 999 and 111 calls and others who support the provision of ambulance service clinical care day in and day out.
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