One of our Ambulance Technicians based at Carlton Ambulance Station has been selected to appear as one of 100 faces being beamed onto the walls outside Nottingham Castle.
Rosea Poynter, 34, was chosen to be part of the Nottingham Bid, Heritage Fund and Arts Council England funded campaign which aims to celebrate individuals making a positive impact on the city and to the people who call it home.
Rosea joined EMAS in February 2019, although it had been a ‘life-long dream’ to work for the ambulance service, and she is thrilled to have been invited to be part of the campaign.
She said: “Being recognised as one of the 100 faces as part of the castle’s re-opening is a real privilege.
“Thousands of other great people were also considered for their positive contributions to Nottingham during the pandemic, so I am extremely humbled by the honour of being included in this campaign.
Despite always knowing that a career in the ambulance service was her ultimate goal, Rosea’s journey to becoming an Ambulance Technician was not straightforward.
Rosea moved from London to Nottingham with her parents (who were originally from the city) when she was 17-years-old, and this is when she met her now husband, 35-year-old Craig Poynter, who was 18 at the time.
Rosea moved back to London to study theatre at university and work for a theatre production company. Craig decided to move down to the capital with her.
She said: “During that time I volunteered with St. John Ambulance Service and my love for the work of the emergency services stemmed from there.”
Upon their return to Nottingham a few years later, the couple set up a community bakery in Sherwood called The Bakehouse in 2016.
The inspiration for this business venture happened after Craig, who was trained by Gordon Ramsey as a young chef during his time in London, discovered he really enjoyed the aspect of preparing and baking bread.
The Poynter family stood outside The Bakehouse situated in Sherwood, Nottingham.
By this time, they already had their first son, Freddie, who was born prematurely in February 2015 when Rosea was only 29 weeks pregnant.
Rosea said: “Life and work always seemed to always get in the way of me pursuing my dreams of working for the ambulance service.
“Seeing how the staff at the neonatal ward really cared for Freddie got me re-thinking about working for the ambulance service as I knew I also wanted to be able to help other people in the same way.
“I knew that once Freddie was healthy and the bakery was in a strong position where I could take a step back, that I would make it my mission to join the ambulance service.
“I also came into contact with numerous ambulance crews at EMAS when we needed to call them for Craig’s father who was suffering with his health towards the end of his life.
“I remember thinking what a marvellous job they were doing and how compassionate they were towards my father-in-law and I would have many conversations with them about how I wanted to do the same line of work.
“Craig’s father always encouraged me to apply as he believed that I had the right set of skills to make a difference to patients.”
Rosea’s father-in-law sadly died in April 2018. A few months later, in July Rosea spotted an advert from EMAS recruiting trainee technicians.
She said: “I knew in that moment that I had to send in my application as I felt if I didn’t do it now then I never would.
“I was motivated to honour Craig’s father’s memory and felt that I would be doing him proud even though he was no longer physically with us.”
Since joining EMAS Rosea has gone on to have her second son, Otis, who was born in December 2019 and was on maternity leave during the first wave of the pandemic.
Rosea said: “It was a difficult time as I wanted to be able to provide support for my colleagues and our patients.
“My return to work after giving birth to Otis was very different to pre-COVID as you can imagine.
“However, I was able to have regular conversations with my management teams, so I knew what to expect upon my return and I knew I had people I could turn too if I felt overwhelmed.”
Rosea holding Otis for a picture before starting another busy shift.
Rosea is excited to be a representative of the BAME community who was able to follow her career aspirations, despite the challenges that life presented along the way.
She said: “My aim is to inspire anyone regardless of their age, gender, race or sexual orientation that they can do anything they set their mind too – for me that was working for the ambulance service.”
