Ambulance service promotes Remembrance 100 on its vehicles
Ambulance service promotes Remembrance 100 on its vehicles
North East Ambulance Service is marking the centenary of the end of the First World War with the images of poppies on some of its vehicles to say its very own thank you to all who served and sacrificed their lives in the Great War.
North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (NEAS) covers 3,200 square miles across the North East region. It employs more than 2,600 staff and serves a population of 2.7 million people by handling all NHS111 and 999 calls for the region, operating patient transport and ambulance response services, delivering training for communities and commercial audiences and providing medical support cover at events.
The service’s full fleet covers on average 14 million miles each year and an average emergency ambulance will cover between 55,000 and 75,000 miles a year.
Assistant director of communications and engagement at the NHS Foundation Trust, Mark Cotton explains: “This war is said to have touched the lives of families in every village and town in the country and its impact is still being felt today.
“The occasion of its centenary means a lot to people and we felt that it was appropriate to mark this occasion on some of our vehicles as an important milestone.
“Feedback has already been flooding in and I our staff have said they are extremely proud to drive those vehicles.”
The idea came forwards from David Parkin who works in the fleet department for the Trust and was formerly in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME) for 22 years, serving as a staff sergeant vehicle mechanic.
He added, “With it being the 100th year anniversary, I thought it was important to show our support to the Royal British Legion and all of the service men and women and volunteers who have lost their lives through conflict. We hope that by being placed on ambulances, they should be seen by people from across our region.”
The poppies will be visible for the next few weeks and the Trust is encouraging people who spot them to share their pictures by messaging the service’s Facebook page.
This year NEAS representatives will also take part Remembrance events across the region, including the Festival of Remembrance at Durham Cathedral and following parade.
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Notes to editors
Media contact: North East Ambulance Service press office, publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk, 07559 918672.
Notes to editors:
In 2017/18 the service answered over 1.4 million emergency 999 and NHS 111 calls, responded to 280,00 incidents that resulted in a patient being taken to hospital, treated and discharged 27,000 patients with telephone advice and treated and discharged over 100,000 patients at home. In the same year, clinical crews responded to 126,746 of our highest priority patients within the national targets and scheduled care crews completed almost 580,000 patient transport journeys.