Three existing St John members have recently joined the St John Emergency Ambulance Service after successfully completing their training to work as Emergency Care Assistants.

Phil Ozanne, Ross Senior and Jim Cathcart have all started as retained operational staff, having gained previous experience and training whilst members of St John Guernsey in a voluntary capacity.

Phil has been with St John for 29 years, and is also the Senior Officer (First Aid), responsible for handling first aid services at public events. Jim is a Community First Responder and also well known locally as the voice of BBC Radio Guernsey’s morning show.

The third member of the team, Ross Senior, is studying for his ‘A’ levels at Elizabeth College sixth form, and plans to go to university to follow a career in medicine at the end of next summer. He is a member of St John Cadets and last year won the Commanderies’ Cadet of the Year award at the 2015 national competition. Ross is also presently a Lieutenant Governor’s Cadet.

The new Care Assistants work on the emergency side of the service, supporting Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians on ambulance calls anywhere on the island.  The training undertaken lasted eight weeks and covers all clinical aspects of emergency ambulance work from knowledge of anatomy and physiology to dealing with a cardiac arrest.

Dean de la Mare, Senior Officer, Operations for the Emergency Ambulance Service, said: “St John would like to congratulate our three new recruits.

“We are always pleased to welcome new members to the Emergency Ambulance Service team and the fact that they choose to do so having first volunteered for a period of time with St John is testament to the quality of service that we provide.“

“It is also important to us to offer part time positions and training to young people, such as Ross, who will go on to study relevant qualifications off-island, as it offers them the opportunity for hands-on experience during their school and university holidays.”