Project: volunteer ambulance emergency responder

In this series, project managers tell us how they’re using their skills outside work. Here, Tyler Skerton of global consultancy Turner & Townsend shares his experience as a volunteer emergency responder for the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust during the COVID-19 crisis.

For the past six years, I have been an emergency responder for the London Ambulance Service. We are trained volunteers who respond to the most serious 999 calls in a blue-light response vehicle, which can vary from road traffic collisions to cardiac arrests. We are treated just like front-line staff, wearing the same uniform and using the same systems. Our clinical level focuses on basic life support, which means providing early CPR and defibrillation to improve the patient’s chance of survival. The scheme is made up of around 150 volunteers based in six stations across London, and we come from all walks of life, from project managers like me to pilots, police officers, doctors, dentists and soldiers.

Vital transferable skills

I started my project management career as an apprentice with Transport for London, where I worked on some of Europe’s largest rail programmes before moving to the advertising company JCDecaux where I worked to tight deadlines delivering advertising construction projects at Heathrow Airport. I then moved into my dream job at Turner & Townsend, starting at Heathrow and more recently moving into Network Rail delivering Crossrail stations work.

The beauty of my volunteer work is that I can transfer my skills from the workplace to my volunteering and vice versa. Many project managers will be aware that one of our key traits is the ability to make decisions and step up to become the leader of a team or situation. My volunteer work enables me to build confidence in making decisions based on the information presented to me in the moment. With most of my project experience being on-site and in delivery, the daily review of activities and tasks when running a contract enables me to be comfortable with expediting that contract, particularly relating to instructions, planning, resourcing and site inspections.

Being a project manager definitely helps with being an emergency responder. Much of my work involves building relationships and being able to influence internal and external stakeholders. These may be cross-party organisations such as the police service, or other teams within the London Ambulance Service. Most frequently, I liaise with loved ones or family members about what we are doing when we arrive and what may be the necessary next steps in the process.

Other interchangeable skills include risk assessment and safe working. Whether this be on a construction site or attending a major incident, my work on industry best practice within the rail environment enables me to better look out for patients and other team members when responding to most events. It is important that safety is at the forefront of our response and is a continued action.

Called to immediate action

Nothing could have prepared me for the past few months. By mid-March, as COVID-19 began to spread, I could see more strain being placed on the NHS. As the London Ambulance Service was preparing for a dramatic increase in patients, I received the call to volunteer more often. At the time, I was working at Heathrow Airport as a project manager on the security programme. As the aviation industry was grounded, I found myself placed on furlough – the timing could not have been better. Being called to assist on the front line and getting leave (that ended up being for 10 weeks), I felt that this was my time to step up and try to do some good.

As March turned into April, it was clear that the situation was unprecedented. At the peak of the pandemic, the service was receiving up to 11,000 calls a day – up from 5,000 on a typically busy day. The public was panicked, and it seemed like the world was ending and our safety and access to emergency healthcare was not there. The ambulance service was gearing up for a battle like nobody had ever seen. Emergency responders like me were upskilled to attend patients on large, double-crewed ambulances, giving us the ability to respond with another front-line, paid member of staff. April was very busy, with hardly any rest on shift as we rushed from patient to patient.

On the COVID-19 front line

“Echo Romeo eight-one, we have a 56-year-old male in cardiac arrest; you are currently the nearest available resource. Please confirm you have received the job and are PPE fit tested.”

“Yes, all received; we’re en route,” I called back.

On a quiet April night, we raced against the clock to a patient who was not breathing and was in confirmed cardiac arrest. My colleague and I arrived on scene and donned our PPE – a very warm white overall, a respirator, goggles and gloves. We rushed into the house to find the patient’s wife attempting CPR. We took over and attached the defibrillator to the patient’s chest. “No shock advised,” the defibrillator said. We continued our support until our backup crew arrived, discovering the patient had been suffering with a fever and severe respiratory difficulties. I assumed the worst – that he was our first COVID-19 patient. Despite getting a pulse back, on transferring to hospital he sadly passed away.

I was staggered to see how ill our patients were, fighting for their lives – and we were their only chance, as we were able to give oxygen to those who needed it. As COVID-19 is a respiratory disease that hinders the body’s oxygen saturations, giving oxygen enables us to treat the feeling of breathlessness and helps make our patients comfortable on their way to hospital. One of the key roles of a first responder is to control a scene. Medical emergencies are highly stressful and emotional situations. Our ability to get there quickly to provide reassurance to patients and family greatly helps.

Nothing quite prepares you

The sheer level of fear felt by the public was intense. The amount of bereavement we had to witness will stay with me for a long time. Nothing quite prepares you for dealing with grief. You can write protocols, and create checklists and cue-sheets, but standing face-to-face with family members after their loved one has not made it is always difficult, and sometimes heart-breaking. The devastating effect of the virus is that the onset it so quick.

I used to write off mental health issues as just a bit of a fad, but boy, I could not be more wrong! Our mental health is so important, and that is why we should look after it as much as our physical health. Living through this experience has most definitely made me think more about mental health. To all the front-line workers and key workers who have had to bear the brunt of work throughout this period: look out for one and other.