A legacy that lives in every ambulance journey
It is with deep respect and profound gratitude that we mark the passing of Professor Douglas Chamberlain CBE, who died peacefully on 22 May 2025, aged 94. Regarded as the father of paramedicine in Europe, Professor Chamberlain’s pioneering work transformed emergency care and continues to shape ambulance practice across the UK and beyond.
Born in Cardiff in 1931, Professor Chamberlain’s path into medicine was anything but conventional. Despite facing learning challenges now recognised as dyslexia, his intellectual clarity and clinical curiosity carried him through Cambridge, military service in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and into a career in cardiology. But it was his time at Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, where a single incident – when paramedics couldn’t access a defibrillator – ignited his resolve to rethink emergency care.
In 1971, he trained Brighton ambulance staff in defibrillation, intubation and drug administration, creating the UK’s first paramedic course. That bold, visionary step laid the foundation for modern paramedicine. Today, his influence can be seen in every pre-hospital resuscitation, clinical decision and life saved through care delivered outside hospital walls.
Professor Chamberlain was a champion of CPR education, public access defibrillators and system-wide clinical improvement. He authored over 200 academic papers, pioneered the “10 Rules of a Normal ECG,” and edited the seminal text Cardiac Arrest: The Science and Practice of Resuscitation Medicine. He also helped establish the European Resuscitation Council and the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation, shaping global policy and practice.
Even after retirement from clinical cardiology in 1991, he remained a guiding light for the ambulance sector – frequently advising teams at South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) and London Ambulance Service, always generous with his time and wisdom. In 2020, SECAmb named its Brighton Make Ready Centre “Chamberlain House” in honour of his decades of service.
Professor Chamberlain was awarded a CBE in 1988, received multiple honorary doctorates, and became an Honorary Fellow of the College of Paramedics. Yet perhaps the most meaningful recognition came from the respect held by ambulance colleagues across the UK.
On 17 June 2025, his funeral was held in Hove, East Sussex, attended by senior leaders from every part of the ambulance community. Among them were Tracy Nicholls, CEO of the College of Paramedics, Jason Killens, AACE Chair and CEO of London Ambulance Service, and Simon Weldon, CEO of SECAmb – alongside many others who considered him both a mentor and a friend.
He was honoured with a formal ambulance escort for the funeral cortege and a uniformed guard of honour, a moving tribute from the profession he helped to build. The ceremony reflected not only his contribution to clinical care, but also his enduring human impact – shaping a culture of professionalism, compassion and innovation.
Professor Chamberlain is survived by his wife Jennifer, two daughters and two sons. But his legacy lives on in every trained paramedic, every life saved, and every patient treated with dignity and clinical skill by ambulance services across the UK.
We remember him not just as the architect of paramedicine, but as a man who made it personal – and profoundly possible.
