His Majesty The King’s Birthday Honours 2024
Dedicated members of the NHS Ambulance Service in England, and from the Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish and Guernsey Ambulance Services, have become recipients of the prestigious Kings’s Ambulance Service Medal for Distinguished Service, announced in His Majesty the King’s Birthday Honours List.
The King’s Ambulance Service Medal (KAM) honours a very small, select group of ambulance personnel who have shown exceptional devotion to duty, outstanding ability, merit and conduct in their roles within NHS Ambulance Services, and the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, who coordinates the nominations for England, welcomed the recognition.
Today’s KAM recipients are David Dean, Senior Paramedic Mentor, East of England Ambulance Service; Michael Jenkins, Regional Clinical Lead-Consultant Paramedic, Welsh Ambulance Service; Ola Zahran, Chief Technology Officer, Yorkshire Ambulance Service; Heather Foster-Sharpe, Assistant Director Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service; Mark Mapp, Chief Executive Officer, Ambulance & Rescue Guernsey, and Liam Coughlan, Head of Programmes at the Scottish Ambulance Services’s Programme Management Office.
David Dean
Senior Paramedic Mentor
East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust
David Dean, who lives in Wickford, has been awarded the King’s Ambulance Service Medal for his life-saving work on the frontline of the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST).
David has demonstrated notable loyalty to the ambulance service and his colleagues, and he was a highly respected individual throughout his career.
He also mentored newly qualified paramedics as they began their careers in the ambulance service. He retired in March this year after 36 years as a paramedic in the Essex area.
Mike Jenkins
Consultant Paramedic and Regional Clinical Lead
Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust
Mike Jenkins has also been awarded the KAM for distinguished service.
Mike joined the ambulance service in 1984 as a Paramedic Supervisor. He was among the first in the UK to qualify as an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner in 2006 and continues to practice at this level.
In 2016, he became the Trust’s Head of Patient Safety, Concerns and Learning, and a year later, was appointed Regional Clinical Lead in south east Wales.
He has also played an instrumental role in the training and education of frontline clinicians.
Ola Zahran
Chief Technology Officer
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Ola has also been recognised with the KAM. During her career, Ola has played a key role in the development of the digital agenda and healthcare technologies at the Trust, regionally and nationally.
She has led on a number of complex national projects for the ambulance sector and wider healthcare community, including the Unified Communications project where she was responsible for supplier engagement and implementation, and was instrumental in sharing learning from the roll-out in Yorkshire to benefit other ambulance services across the country.
Heather Foster-Sharpe
Assistant Director Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
Heather has also been awarded the KAM in the King’s Birthday Honours for her services to health and to her local community.
Heather has been with the ambulance service for 30 years throughout which she has held a number of positions including Paramedic, Rapid Response Paramedic, Station Officer and Area Manger. Heather was also the services first HART Team Leader.
Her current role is one that seeks to ensure that NIAS is prepared and ready to respond to any incident which calls for a specialist response.
Passionate about patient care, Heather has always sought to develop herself and colleagues to ensure that the highest levels of clinical care are provided to patients at their time of need.
Mark Mapp
Chief Executive Officer
Ambulance & Rescue Guernsey
Guernsey’s Chief Ambulance Officer and CEO of St John Ambulance and Rescue Service, Mark Mapp has too been recognised with the KAM.
Mark began his career with Guernsey’s ambulance service in 1998, starting in the non-emergency division before moving to the emergency team as an Emergency Medical Technician. He trained further to become a paramedic, trainer, and acting Sub Officer.
Mark also spent eight years working in various roles at Health and Social Care (HSC) while continuing part-time with the Ambulance Service. He contributed to numerous projects within the Ambulance Service until his full return in 2019. Later that year, he was appointed Chief Ambulance Officer.
Liam Coughlan
Head of Programmes
Scottish Ambulance Services
Liam Coughlan, who has been instrumental in developing several key projects for SAS has been awarded the King’s Ambulance Service Medal.
Liam, of Lenzie, joined SAS in 2013 and his current role involves leading a team of staff supporting the delivery of the Service’s 2030 strategy, which aims to save more lives, reduce inequalities and improve health and wellbeing.
During his time at SAS, he has been involved with several major pieces of work and previously led the Enabling Technology programme as part of SAS’s 2020 strategy.
He has also managed the Ambulance Telehealth Programme, which delivered new ICT infrastructure into our emergency ambulances and the Integrated Clinical Hub Project, which developed how the Service responds to 999 calls.
Further recognition for the ambulance sector
As well as the King’s Ambulance Medal, AACE also pay tribute to other members of the ambulance sector who have been recognised today.
We are also delighted to announce retired paramedic Dennis Moss has been made an MBE for his services to the Welsh Ambulance Service and to first aid abroad.
Dennis, of Cardiff, started his career in the Territorial Army 158 Field Ambulance division aged 17 and was inspired to become a paramedic after his involvement in the Aberfan disaster rescue effort in 1966.
He joined South Glamorgan Ambulance Service in 1975 and is believed to have been the first Asian paramedic in Wales.
Nathan Liberman, a volunteer community first responder who has been called out to more than 7,000 emergencies, saving many lives, has been recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours.
He has been awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for his 17 years of service to the NHS and the north Norfolk community.
Also recognised are Margaret Austin, lately Chief Medical Adviser, St John Ambulance, for services to St John Ambulance and to First Aid Training (MBE), and Jason Carlyon, Community Engagement Lead and Paramedic, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust, for services to Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, who also receives an MBE.
About the King’s Ambulance Service Medal
The King’s Ambulance Service Medal is awarded to members of the NHS Ambulance Service (and equivalents) in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands for distinguished service. It was introduced on 11 July 2011 and first awarded during the 2012 Birthday Honours. Recipients may use the post-nominal letters “KAM” or “QAM” depending on when the award was made, and on occasions when the use of such letters is customary.
The number of nominations in any one year may never exceed ten and includes up to four Medals for England, up to two Medals for Wales, up to two Medals for Scotland, up to one Medal for Northern Ireland and up to one Medal for the Channel Islands.
In accordance with custom, the medals will be formally presented at an Investiture Ceremony.
Learn more about the KAM nomination process here.
We offer our sincere congratulations to all recipients and thank them for their dedication and service.
