John Ashworth

Emergency Ambulance Crew Volunteer

St John Ambulance

I joined St John Ambulance as a Volunteer in 1995, and have been qualified as ambulance crew since 1997. Originally I was in Chipping Sodbury and Yate Unit, then moved to Bath, which included a period as leader of the Cadet Unit. I am also a First Aid Trainer, and have delivered courses and specific sessions on a wide variety of subjects in that area.

Following the formation of Ambulance Operations as a separate function, I became a Local Ambulance Lead supporting our local volunteer ambulance crews, with a focus on trainee and new EACs. Since retiring from my day job as an IT Consultant for Oracle, I have also stepped down from my LAL role in order to allow me more time for travelling.

Operationally and clinically, I have attended a wide variety of events, both locally and nationally, experiencing a wide variety of pre-hospital patients.  More recently, since the outbreak of Covid, I have been crewing ambulances on NHSE 999 support work (mainly in the Bristol area, but also elsewhere), averaging around a shift a week during 2020, 21 and 22. This has given me a great opportunity to meet and help many patients, and to work closely with HCPs and many other organisations.