Commercial Week 2023: Grace’s Mcgregor's story

It’s day two of Commercial Week and we’re talking to Grace Mcgregor, Emergency Medical Technician, about her experience of starting as a member of the CallEEAST team and how this started her #CareerForLife with EEAST.

What’s it like to be part of CallEEAST?

Today, one of the original team members, Grace tells us what life is really like as part of CallEEAST and how her time there has shaped her future career path.

What did you want to do career wise before joining EEAST?

Before joining EEAST, when I was younger, I only ever focused on performing arts and never thought about the ambulance service. However, that very quickly changed once I started with CallEEAST. I found that almost instantly my career path changed, and I began to realise that I belonged within the ambulance service.

What brought you to EEAST?

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do career wise, as stated before I was always interested only in performing arts. However, I had recently turned down a university offer to study performing arts further and the idea of helping others in the community appealed to me.

What do you enjoy about the role?

Within CallEEAST, I took non-emergency calls from patients arranging EEAST non-emergency patient transport to and from hospital for outpatient appointments and patients on renal dialysis. I also took phone calls from hospitals coordinating EEAST non-emergency patient transport for patients being discharged and booking inter facility non-emergency transport between hospitals when patients needed to attend appointments whilst in hospital or for surgeries.

CallEAST gave me the opportunity to build my telephone communication skills, gain experience and confidence within customer services and it’s where I started my journey with EEAST. CallEAST provided me with the opportunity to progress my career within the Trust and supported me with my career progression.

Where are you now?

I was supported with the progression from CallEEAST to EOC, where I predominately took emergency 999 calls alongside emergency transport bookings from healthcare professionals (HCPs) including district nurses and GPs and arranged emergency transport between hospitals when a patient required escalation of care.

Taking emergency 999 calls can be stressful, and fast paced, however it can also be rewarding knowing that you are the first person to provide lifesaving information and advice to the caller and the patient whilst they are awaiting an ambulance to arrive to continue the care.

I thoroughly enjoyed being a call handler within EOC, but a time came where I was inquisitive about the idea of being on the road seeing the patients and their families face to face, so I applied for the role of apprentice emergency medical technician (EMT). I have now just completed my apprenticeship on the road as an emergency medical technician, this involves a 12 week training course and 18 months to two years on the road working alongside other EMTs, paramedics and emergency care assistants.

Working in CallEEAST and the EOC definitely helped my career and gave me the ability to succeed in my apprenticeship, giving me a wide range of skills in customer service, caring for individuals, teamwork, respect for patients, peers and the community.

Interested in starting your #CareerForLife with us? Get started today: https://www.eastamb.nhs.uk/join-the-team/discover-your-career-for-life.htm