Our ambulances need to carry the right equipment that’s fit for purpose in order to help save lives and it’s the job of our Logistics team to make sure that happens every day.
As part of our 'A day in the life of' feature we talk to Logistics Manager Vicky Moody, who is based with her busy team at our Alfreton Resource Centre.
Vicky has been with EMAS for five and half years and joined on a temporary six-month contract as a Supplies Administrator not long before COVID-19 hit.
She said: "I’m from an education background, having previously worked as a Team Leader for exams in a further education college, but I’ve always wanted to feel like I’m making a contribution. At the college I was helping shape the futures of students and here I support EMAS to care for patients."
Vicky’s day starts with checking what requests have come through from our stations for supplies. Vicky and her team ensure our station stock rooms are equipped with all the medical consumables that are needed on our ambulances, ranging from bandages to personal protective equipment such as face masks. Vicky processes the orders and then oversees them being put together and delivered by our Logistics team.
Stock management is a big part of Vicky’s role, whether that’s leading on the stocktakes that have to happen at our warehouse and stations to make sure our supplies and equipment are ready to be used or working with the Clinical, Infection Prevention and Control and Cleaning Services team to identify when equipment and supplies are no longer available and sourcing urgent replacements.
She said: "The biggest challenge at the moment is the availability of products; I think supply lines are still being affected by COVID and other things that are going on in the world. It can be very difficult to find alternatives and get them approved, added to the system and ordered in time.
"You always have in your mind that this could be something that is needed to save somebody’s life. We want to make sure our frontline crews have everything they need but it isn’t always easy to do that."
Where stock is identified as out of date for use at EMAS, Vicky and her team ensure it is donated to charities where it can still be used, such as those providing aid in the Ukraine, Gaza and Africa.
In her role, Vicky also works with many of the teams across EMAS on projects such as helping with the ordering and delivery of materials like the Children’s Activity Books, transporting heavy equipment for the Education team and delivering water to stations for frontline colleagues in hot weather.
Vicky said: "We do a lot more than just delivering stock, we’ve got our fingers in lots of pies."
Although the job can be demanding, Vicky says she loves coming to work because of her team and the sense of achievement her role gives her.
She said: "The best part of the job is the team. We’ve got a really good team who are very dedicated and will do whatever I throw at them. There’s also great job satisfaction, although we don’t treat patients on the frontline, we are part of the wider EMAS team that help make that happen."