An emergency care practitioner at an NHS health trust in England. An EMS public official in Connecticut, USA. An intensive care flight paramedic in Tasmania. An assistant professor at the Seoul Medical Centre in Korea. A specialist nurse in pre-hospital emergency care in a Swedish ambulance service. The head of the ambulance service at the King Fahad Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia. An emergency nurse at the Komfo Anoyke Teaching Hospital in Ghana.
Although working thousands of miles away from each other these seven complete strangers have two facts of common interest—they have devoted their professional careers to pre-hospital emergency care and secondly they are members of The Larrey Society, the independent cross-sector ‘think tank’ formed in 2015 in England to help influence fit for purpose ambulance services to meet the needs of all patients in the 21st century.
The Society has taken its name from Dominique Jean Larrey, the 17th century military surgeon and acknowledged ‘father’ of modern day emergency medical services for his introduction of battlefield treatment and ‘flying ambulances’ for wounded soldiers during the Napoleonic wars.
‘With tenacity and passion Larrey fought—and won—continuous battles to get permission from his military superiors and political bureaucrats to treat the wounded of both sides in “mash-style” field hospitals, and his innovative thinking and devotion to patient care is the perfect role model for the Society to follow’ says David Davis, the man who founded and now is Chairman of the Society's Board of Directors.
While inevitably the Society's founding membership is largely located in the United Kingdom and comprises paramedics from the public, independent and voluntary ambulance sectors, it is also attracting a growing number of supporters who live and work in more than 28 countries around the world.
‘It soon became clear that the issues facing paramedics and pre-hospital care specialists are the same the world over…job-related burnout, personal safety, staff shortages, shrinking budgets, and depressingly low investment in practical and management education and training…” recalls Davis, who after a successful career in the media and corporate communications has spent the last 7 years utilising his skills and experience to improve relationships between the National Health Service and private ambulance providers.
He founded the Independent Ambulance Association in 2012 which provided private ambulance companies recognition by legislators and regulators in the UK but, as he now says:
‘The experience made me realise that the working relationship between the NHS trusts and the companies was built on a mutual but grudging acceptance that they needed one another to survive…in practice they never actually spoke with one another about working together for the benefit of patients…there were virtually no opportunities to sit around a table, share ideas and views to improve their skills by learning from each other.’
The Larrey Society was born to meet such challenges. At meetings of the Board of Directors, individuals who work in the NHS and ambulance company managers work alongside one another charting the organisation's strategic development and overseeing governance; all other membership meetings and events are conducted under The Chatham House Rule on confidentiality which encourages full and frank discussion without jeopardising an individual's work.
‘The Chatham House Rule’ Davis explains ‘is the protocol regularly used by international diplomats when they are dealing with sensitive issues…it allows the subject of their discussions to be shared with others outside the meetings but forbids the identity of who says what to be disclosed. It has certainly helped to break down any concerns and suspicions members may have had in openly discussing their views and sharing information.’
While getting members in the UK to meet with each other has had its own challenges, encouraging individuals living around the world to network has been made surprisingly easier by the development of The Larrey Global Forum, the first online ‘meeting place’ for the exclusive use of members.
After a hesitant start, members are now using the global forum to communicate with new and old friends on a varied range of topics including CPR training, shared control rooms, paramedic registration, EMS helicopter safety uniforms, international emergency dialling numbers, EMS apps, ambulance commissioning, CPD points, regulatory ambulance inspection, EMS in Thailand, Australian paramedic registration, European benchmarking and EU public contract procurement.
‘The Forum is helping individuals to better understand how the EMS and the paramedic profession operate in countries outside their own’ says Davis.
International organisations have also linked support with The Larrey Society including:
As more individuals are joining the Society, they are encouraging their own national organisations to link up with the Larrey organisation.
Communications have played an essential role in the Society's first year achievements and will continue to do so as it continues to develop:
Recently the Board of Directors decided to replace the free membership with a modest annual subscription for a range of benefits which include, in addition to the weekly newsletter,
There is a built-in guarantee of a 100% refund if at any time the member considers that the subscription does not offer good value for money.
As an independent ‘think tank’ the Larrey Society neither seeks nor receives public funding, and in addition to subscriptions it relies on the generous support of corporate sponsors.
Two international companies are already supporting the Society's advocacy and research work—Zoll Medical Ltd, an Asahi Kasei Group Company, which develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, and Alfred Bekker API Ltd, specialists in the design and manufacture of patient transport, rapid response, minibus and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
With its increasing overseas identity, the Larrey Society offers international businesses a new and effective showcase to present their goods and services to an important specialist healthcare sector.
An increasing international presence is a key objective for the Society, particularly to geographically broaden the knowledge and expertise on its Strategic Advisory Board.
Explains Davis: ‘The issues and challenges facing paramedics hardly differ from one country to another and the Society's ultimate goal is to become over time their recognised destination of knowledge and influence.’
Join The Larrey Society by visiting: http://thelarreysociety.org/membership/
For information on The Larrey Lecture, taking place on 13 July 2016, visit: http://thelarreysociety.org/events/