Political Opinion: Gen Kitchen MP: Let's all take a moment to honour our brave emergency services
Whether it’s the police, fire and ambulance services or coastguard and search and rescue teams, our emergency services are the heroes who run towards danger to protect us all. They are the people we call when we face the scariest and most difficult times of our lives.
This week is Emergency Services Day, an opportunity for us to reflect on the incredible work these services do and to show our appreciation for the risks they take to keep us safe. It is also a chance to promote emergency services charities and campaigns being run by frontline emergency services.
Around 2 million people work and volunteer in the NHS and emergency services in the UK and 250,000 of those are first responders. I experienced a taste of the pressures they work under when I recently spent the day with the East Midlands Ambulance Service. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to gain a deeper understanding of the issues they face day-to-day and to see close-up the compassion and care they show patients and their family.
The Labour Government has made it a priority to shorten waiting times at A&E, which will hopefully ease some of the pressures faced by ambulance crews. Our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan has been backed by £450m to shift more patient care into more appropriate settings, tackling ambulance handover delays and corridor care.
It is important to me to support all our local emergency services where I can and believe it’s vital for us to work together to keep our communities safe. I enjoyed attending the first Firefighter Challenge in Northamptonshire recently. The fun event raised money for The Fire Fighters Charity – an organisation offering physical and mental health support for current and former members of the Fire Service, as well as their families.
I am also pleased to have the police represented at my Wellingborough Town Centre Taskforce and Rushden Youth Roundtable.
Over 7,500 members of the UK emergency services have been killed in the line of duty in the last 200 years. At 9am, on September 9th there will be a 2-minutes’ silence to remember them. Let’s all use this day to thank those who put our safety before their own.