Behind the scenes: Matthew Best, Dispatcher

This week, the ‘Behind the scenes’ light shines on Matthew Best, a dispatcher for Norwich EOC. Matthew has worked with EEAST for three and a half years.

Tell us a bit about yourself

I started with the Trust in 2012 as a call handler, but had always looked toward joining dispatch and, after just over a year, I progressed into the role. Career highlights are many and various. You never know what a day will hold when you log in on every shift.

I am responsible for escalating calls for critical care assistance or officer deployment, alerting other agencies to attend (like police, coastguard, or the fire and rescue service), ensuring the right skills are on scene with each patient, and generally ensuring that no patient is left waiting for a response.  Staff welfare is also a major part of my role – trying to make sure everyone is well looked after on the road and getting everything they need in order to do their job.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The best part is when you know you’ve provided the right response to a patient, especially when patients are in cardiac arrest or a major trauma situation; it is a genuine buzz to see a patient make a recovery on scene – true, the hard work is all being down by the crews on scene – but you can’t help but feel like you helped affect the positive outcome for that patient, and that’s what motivates me.

Which of the Trust values is most important to you, and why?

I think they are all important. We use each one every day in one form or another.

What did you want to be when you were young?

I wanted to be a funeral director… a job I actually did for a long time before joining the Trust. But I wanted to do something meaningful where I could make a difference. I enjoy helping people and a friend recommended I go for a call handling post which really appealed to me.

Would you like to feature in 'Behind the scenes', or know someone who would? Get in touch using the 'contact us' form on the bottom-right of Need to Know - we'd love to hear from you!

Published 8th May, 2016