Today (30th November) BBC media outlets across the country will be shining the spotlight on ambulance services – and you can get involved.

Innovative new advances with technology and e-learning are the main focus of the latest edition of REDistribute, a newsletter from the Resilience and Emergencies Division (RED).

A look back on 2016 and a big thank you to everyone: this week’s executive message comes from out Director of Strategy and Sustainability, Wayne Bartlett-Syree.

This year, we are borrowing a great idea from a neighbouring Trust, our Trust Flu Charter.

The Trust’s next public Board meeting is being held on Wednesday, 30th November at Melbourn headquarters.

The leadership and management development programme began last year, and what a year it’s been.

Cardiac arrests are unpredictable and catastrophic in nature, with a brief therapeutic window of opportunity. Therefore, every element of our system is of vital importance.

A new report from Public Health England (PHE) shows that for the first time fewer antibiotics are being prescribed by GPs and clinicians.

Checkout our updated cardiac arrest checklist

It was all on your marks, get set, bake for staff at Bedford, as staff held their very own Great Bedford Bake Off to raise money for Children in Need.

A Suffolk boy has received a bravery award after helping to save his great grandmother’s life.

We’ve been notified of another potentially affected batch of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate injections, 100mg/1ml.

On Tuesday (29th November) we’ll be doing work on the CAD and MDT that may affect you.

Our latest issue of Clinical Quality Matters, EEAST's clinical publication written by and for staff, is now available.

Colleagues are asked to be extra careful online over the next few days due to the expected increase in attempts to con people, particularly via email, due to Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales and offers.

For paramedics in west Norfolk carrying a drug called syntometrine, used in post-partum haemorrhage, and emergency care practitioners carrying chloramphenicol antibiotic eye drops, please remember that these drugs are classed as cytotoxic.

To open up potential options, we’ve started work on an international recruitment campaign to attract candidates from the rest of Europe and further afield such as Australia.

With immediate effect, colleagues are asked to please make sure that ambulances carry a maximum of four small (CD) oxygen cylinders at any one time.

Take a look at this refresher training video on safe emergency airway management.

Every time we see a patient we must ensure we have a record of our attendance – why is this important?

As a Trust, it’s one of our clinical priorities this year to improve care and experience for people and their families/carers at the end of their life along with looking to offer you more support.

At the beginning of this year, Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) in Harlow made important changes to their stroke services.

The latest documents on the development of sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) have been published and are available online.

As we reported last week we received a staggering 1,771 responses to the cultural audit. Zeal solutions, the company conducting the audit, have compiled the initial results from your responses which you can view here.

As part of our cardiac arrest care month, Area Clinical Lead Ash Richardson gives us an honest and poignant insight into an arrest he recently attended, and what he felt could have gone better.

Hopes are high in the Comms team for a double Thursday delight in two awards schemes.

This week’s HR e-zine, with the latest job vacancies, expressions of interest and transfer opportunities, is now available online.

Now that the countdown to winter is over, another one begins – Christmas! And we have not one but two dates for your Christmas 999 diaries.

The crews who safely delivered a baby almost 12 weeks premature have been praised by the mum for their actions.

Please take a moment to check for any Trust thermometers that may have gone walkabout from vehicles.

The annual Cambridge trauma conference is back for its fourth year!

Two hundred students received a valuable lesson in road safety at the launch of a new campaign.

We have now collated all of your responses to the cultural audit survey that went out in the summer. What’s the next stage?

We’ve had word that a fellow NHS trust recently received a call from someone claiming to be a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspector, who asked for personal staff details as part of an independent complaint.

Our Bedford office will be getting a slice of the action next week, as they hold their very own Great Bedford Bake Off – all to raise money for this year’s Children in Need.

So far, more than 900 of you have had your flu jab. But it’s still not too late to get yours! There’s often a lot of myth around the jab - do you have questions?

Emergency medical technician Will McFarland, based at Hemel Hempstead, tells us about The Ambulance Service Charity (TASC) - and what it can do for you.

Our bi-annual radio audit of handset terminals is about to begin.

This week’s HR e-zine, with the latest job vacancies, expressions of interest and transfer opportunities, is now available online.

Are you signed up to PSdiscounts?

As you may be aware, users across the country are still having problems accessing their secure NHSmail accounts (ending nhs.net).

Needless to say, cardiac arrests are stressful events for all concerned.

Across the region staff and volunteers gathered to pay tribute to service men and women in Remembrance Day commemorations.

With Instagram being one of the fastest growing social media platforms and a popular channel with younger users, we’d love to grow this audience and we need your help to do that.

No matter who we are or where we are from, one problem can be universal, stress!

Colder temperatures, adverse weather, and flu – winter is here.

Do you know someone who goes above and beyond the call of duty day in day out in an outstanding way? If so, the time is now to have your say.

This week we’re going ‘behind the scenes’ with Darren Murphy, a project manager based in Norwich.

Prolonging a life usually provides a health benefit to that person. But when it is not appropriate to do so at all costs? Advanced decisions to refuse treatment, and DNACPR, are difficult subjects.

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that our former colleague Michael Lewis, a station supervisor at Beccles, passed away last weekend.

So what do you know about traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA)?

If you’re a Hertfordshire paramedic, you’re hopefully being made aware about a new programme for opiate drug users in the county.

Good and effective CPR at the right depth and rate is one of the essentials to any cardiac arrest survival. But can we do more for the most life-threatened patients we see?

Do you wish to work more than 48 hours a week? Then you will need to sign an individual agreement.

As we are coming into the winter months, different types of batteries in some of our devices can perform differently by being stored in cold temperatures.

The Essex and Herts Air Ambulance Trust (EHAAT) will be holding its monthly clinical day on 15th November – and all colleagues are welcome along.

This week’s HR e-zine, with the latest job vacancies, expressions of interest and transfer opportunities, is now available online.

A project to make sure patients experiencing a mental health crisis have rapid access to care has received £200,000 to develop and deploy two new specialist vehicles.

“Fantastic”, “superb”, and “excellent” were to name some of the many compliments made by respondents of our latest patient experience report when speaking about you.

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that our former colleague Teresa Lee, an emergency care practitioner (ECP) in Norfolk, passed away on Sunday, 30th October.

A batch of hydrocortisone sodium phosphate injections, 100mg/1ml, has been recalled by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after reports of discolouration.

As our Twitter account passes the 18,000 follower mark this week, we’d to highlight a few of our new Trust accounts to our tweeting staff and volunteers that you may be interested in following:

All three of our social media channels have passed a milestone this week, helping us reach and engage with even more people.

BBC ambulance day, handover delays and a big thank you: it’s your weekly update from Robert Morton.

It might not be the right time to break out the ‘jingle bells’ (yet), but here’s another date for your Christmas diaries.

We know that for someone in cardiac arrest, getting there quickly is only half the story – what we actually do on scene makes a phenomenal difference to the patient’s chances of survival.

Dispatcher Matthew Harvey has thanked colleagues in Chelmsford and across the region for fundraising in the name of his daughter Iyla ahead of the next sprint towards his family’s charitable goals.

With everything from a good head-tilt-chin-lift to advanced airways falling under the ‘airway’ umbrella, there is a lot to remember. So throughout November we’re offering free, personalised, airway management drop-in sessions.

As you know, over the summer we asked staff for their views about the organisation as part of our cultural audit. Over the last few months we have been processing all the results and are now wanting feedback from staff on these....

Two former patients from Cambridgeshire have thanked the respective staff who treated them following their recent reunions.

Congratulations to three new call handlers who have joined us at #TeamEEAST in our Chelmsford EOC.

Heart health is at the centre of a cardiac care inspired ‘takeover’ this week, with the public being urged to think about prevention being better than cure.

A cardiac arrest survivor was given a special birthday surprise last week - through a visit from the paramedic who saved his life.

It is with great sadness we share the news that Bill Brady, a community first responder (CFR) and co-ordinator in Bedfordshire passed away on Friday, 28th October after a period of illness.

A joint statement between Norwich Medical School and the Trust has been agreed for students who are on placements with EEAST.

One of our Basildon technicians has thanked everyone who donated to her charity head shaving event which raised £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Hundreds of visitors to the weekend’s Festival of Lights celebrations in Bedford had the opportunity to discover more about our service.

This week’s HR e-zine, with the latest job vacancies, expressions of interest and transfer opportunities, is now available online.

We are coming up to that festive time of year where you may get offered gifts and hospitality.

This week's exec message comes from our Medical Director, Mark Patten.

The National Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU) is developing new research to support patient facing staff and our hazardous area response team (HART).

A document which details how the safeguarding team can help if there is an allegation made against you is available online.

Have you got questions, comments, queries or complaints about OHIO (the online occupational health system)?