Guest blog: “Every ride-out I’ve been on has left me feeling awestruck, emotional and lucky”

Our Internal Communications Officer Sophie Taylor is leaving EEAST this month; Sophie has worked with the Trust for nearly four years, and will be hugely missed by the comms team and beyond!

But before she moves on to pastures new, Sophie has kindly shared her thoughts on EEAST, and her experience not just in comms, but as a patient as well…

“It is with a really heavy heart that I leave the Trust and the wonderful organisation that it is – I realise a few people might scoff at that description but that is what it is to me, because on every call or ambulance, every day, helping people in an emergency is the most incredible and important job going.

“You may not realise what a huge impression you can make on a person’s life; when I was in labour, we had to call an ambulance and even though it was one of many jobs that day for the clinicians, I will remember how they helped and what they did for me for the rest of my life. James, Edward and Emma, I won’t ever be able to thank you enough.

“It’s not just my own example, but hundreds of amazing instances of care I’ve seen, read and heard about that makes EEAST so hugely special. From the very first job I attended, a lady who should have just called her GP, to the most serious, not being able to save a patient in cardiac arrest whilst his wife waited downstairs, every ride-out I’ve been on has left me feeling awestruck, emotional and lucky.

“And other standout moments; when a thank you message from senior managers popped up on the CAD after we’d dropped off a drunk patient at 5am on New Year’s Eve; when my community first responder trainer sat with me and talked me through the aforementioned cardiac arrest; when I filmed a mother talking about her son’s death to raise awareness of the rare condition he had; when Need to Know won an industry award for this very site; and the everyday highlights of working with such constantly brilliant colleagues in the communications team.

“There are big, daily, NHS-shaped frustrations and there is a lot of incessant noise and pressure on us, but to just think about what is at the heart of our job is a simple inspiration. Leaving has given me an opportunity to stop and think about this, and so my final wish for you all is this; keep fighting the good fight, someone out there is depending on you.”

Sophie Taylor

Internal Communications Officer

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