Diving to driving: blue lights and new waters
Ash, a leading Royal Navy Diver, has gone from maintaining diving equipment to driving emergency ambulances. He is part of the taskforce stepping up for the coronavirus response.
“I’m known as Ash.”
At the Fleet Diving Squadron Headquarters, Ash carries out delivery and safety checks for diving equipment for units going overseas, and provides underwater counter-explosive training for diving teams. Now, he has volunteered to be a co-responder and ambulance driver with the NHS, saving lives in a different way.
Ash says:
“Whilst being deployed for the coronavirus response, I have had firsthand experience in how hard the NHS Ambulance service works day to day.
I would say its completely different to any other deployment I’ve been on. It’s a privileged position and I love the way we’ve been received by the South Central Ambulance Service.”
More than 80 military personnel have been assisting the South Central Ambulance Service, serving a population of over 7 million people from Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hamsphire and more. Read about their work here.
This experience has inspired Ash to join the ambulance service after retiring:
To all my NHS colleagues, thank you for welcoming the Military Responders, and providing a more than comfortable work environment, one that I will hopefully be part of when I leave the service after 22 years.
As responders, personnel have had extra training to help them adjust to the role: for example being trained on using a life support monitor, providing ECG’s, assisting the clinician, and the location and use of kit in the ambulance.
Ash’s career in the Royal Navy has helped him adapt to this fast-paced and life-saving change of work. He is one of many brave service personnel stepping up to the plate during the pandemic.
