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Camden paramedics Andrea Gibbs (left) and Rachel Yates |
‘It’s traumatic, but you just get on with it’
Paramedic who helped rescue bomb victims features in book celebrating 60 years of NHS
WHETHER it’s making life-saving calls during a gruelling 12-hour shift, or simply helping the elderly find their feet after a fall, each day is different for Andrea Gibbs.
The paramedic says she wouldn’t have it any other way, despite having to cope with the trauma of working with blood, guts and gore, for the past 17 years.
Andrea is just one of 1.3 million dedicated National Health Service staff, but this week the 42-year-old was singled out in a new book, Extraordinary, celebrating 60 years of the NHS.
“I wrote about the London bombings for the book because that stood out for me,” she said. “We were called to the bus bombing, and then to Russell Square – it was absolutely horrific. There were limbs everywhere and stuff like that, but you just have to get on with it.
“It’s awful, having to deal with trauma all the time. I have been doing it for 17 years. There are days when you work for 12 hours without a break. But that isn’t the be all and end all of the job.
“I get a lot of satisfaction from helping the elderly; picking them up off the floor or giving them a cup of tea.
“We are all social workers, care workers and paramedics wrapped into one.”
Andrea joined the London Ambulance Service, the busiest fleet in the world, when she was 25. For the past six years, her crew-mate on all her calls was Charlie Lucas. “We were like a married couple,” she joked. “He’s gone to east London now.”
Andrea names a number of her colleagues at Camden’s Ambulance Station in Cressy Road, South End Green, for special praise, including Matilda Aguilera in adminstration, a touch embarrassed to be singled out from the 70 trained accident and emergency workers in her station.
“After the bombings, I was asked to speak at the Trafalgar Square memorial,” said Andrea. “Then I spoke at another rally, and then I was asked to contribute to a book celebrating the NHS. I was absolutely honoured.
“The NHS is one of this country’s greatest accomplishments and I am extremely proud to be part of it. Sometimes I think it is stretched to breaking point – so let’s just hope it doesn’t get privatised.
“Some of the outpatient transport services have been privatised and you wonder, will it be us next?
“Will there be a London Ambulance Service in the future?
“It comes down to finances, you see. It would always be about who has the lowest bid.
“But there are a lot of cowboys out there.”
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