Her Royal Highness Princess Anne watching a demonstration of the resuscitation of a patient experiencing a cardiac arrest.
HRH Princess Anne visited Lincoln's joint ambulance fire and police station at South Park to officially open the emergency services hub.
HRH was greeted by our Chief Executive Richard Henderson, who then introduced her to three EMAS colleagues in the ambulance bay.
The Princess was shown a cardiac arrest demonstration, courtesy of Ambulance Operations Manager Sam Smith, Clinical Operations Manager Mark Lamming, as well as Clinical Support Manager Paul Harding-Hubbard.
HRH took a keen interest in the collaborative efforts that is required from all crew members when they provide life support to critically ill patients who have stopped breathing.
The Princess was intrigued by the LUCAS device (a mechanical CPR device that regulates and provides perfect chest compressions at the correct rhythm and depth), which attaches to a patient and allows our staff on scene to move and transport a patient to hospital while vital chest compressions are maintained.
After the demonstration, the Princess was shown a range of equipment and resources in one of our ambulances and our colleagues were ready to answer a range of questions that HRH had about the different pieces of equipment on board.
HRH remarked on the advancement of the stretchers we use to lift patients to carry on and off the ambulance after she noticed the hydraulics system, meaning ambulance crews don’t have to manually carry a patient off the ground.
Paul Harding-Hubbard, Clinical Support Manager said: “I really enjoyed meeting Her Royal Highness.
“She was really nice, down to earth, had a great sense of humour.”
After speaking to the ambulance crew, HRH continued her guided tour of the building, getting to speak to our Fire colleagues and meeting police dog Frankie.
HRH also speak to members of the Project Team, including Ambulance Operations Manager Paul Litherland, who ensured that South Park supported the operational requirements of EMAS and met the day-to-day practical needs of our colleagues.
Paul Litherland said: “It was amazing to get the opportunity to meet Her Royal Highness and to have the chance to talk to her about the process of setting up the first tri-service emergency station in the country.
“I was able to explain how we managed to transfer our frontline staff from their old station and into their new site, with minimal disruption to our service.
“Her Royal Highness was very impressed at the amount of strategic planning that has occurred to make this tri-service emergency centre fully operational and ready to respond to the community that we serve.”
The Princess’ visit of South Park concluded with the unveiling of the plaque in the downstairs atrium which signified the official opening of South Park.
