When East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST) Paramedic Nick Shipsey joined the ambulance service 25 years ago, he probably would have never guessed that his newborn daughter would also follow in his footsteps 22 years later.
But that is precisely what Bryony Shipsey did three years ago, and now they are both on the front line of the fight against COVID-19.
Bryony is an Intermediate Ambulance Practitioner and her dad, Nick, is a paramedic.
Bryony has worked a lot with her father during the national emergency as they race from blue-light call to blue-light call around the east of England.
From a young age, Bryony knew that she wanted to follow the footsteps of her heroic father, who has saved so many lives over the 25 years he has been serving on the ‘thin green line’.
Bryony told Emergency Services News:
“From a young age, I wanted to join the ambulance service and follow in the family footsteps.
“I wanted to join EEAST for the chance to make a difference to multiple patients, the opportunity to be part of a fantastic team.
“There is no other job like it, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. There are always tough times, but the good times outweigh the sad times”.
When asked if there were any ‘negatives’ associated with working with her Dad, Bryony said:
“Everyone always says to us how do we work together, but in many ways, it’s easier.
“Personally, I don’t think there are any negatives of working with my dad; I certainly learn a lot for him, and feel this is a great asset to my career”.
Like many first responders and health care professionals around the country, Bryony and Nick have found themselves having the heart of the nation as they risk their own safety to try and save lives during this global emergency.
And despite the enormous pressure and the incredible heartache associated with these testing times, Bryony would still urge anyone thinking of joining the emergency ambulance service to join up.
When asked what advice she would give to anyone thinking of joining up, Bryony said:
“The advice I would give to someone wanting to join the ambulance service, its not all trauma and blue lights.
“On many occasions, it’s assisting the elderly/young adults and helping them find additional support; It’s a fantastically varied career”.
Bryony’s blue-light colleagues in the other parts of the emergency services have been giving a ‘blue-light salute’ to the NHS every Thursday, joined by hundreds of thousands of members of the public who want to show their gratitude and admiration for the NHS.
When asked how these messages of support made her feel, Bryony added:
“We’ve had people waving at us a lot recently and sending kind words of support, which is lovely and so many people appreciate all the hard work the NHS is doing”.
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