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Adam Roberts

Health advisor Adam joined NEAS in 2019 after being inspired by a previous series of Ambulance. The 25-year-old studied media at Salford University and was a radio  network producer before joining the service. 

Q. What attracted you to the job?

When I graduated university, I was looking for a new career outside of radio. After watching a series of BBC 1’s Ambulance, I thought the job of a 999 Health Advisor looked really rewarding. So as soon as a job was advertised for NEAS I applied.

Q. What brings you to work every day?

The job can be very challenging, but it is very rewarding. The feeling of helping people in their greatest time of need gives me a lot of satisfaction. The people I work with really make this job, especially when times are tough. When working a run of shifts, I sometimes see colleagues more than my family so you build friendships very quickly. 

Q. What is an average shift like?

Every shift is varied, but it’s usually busy. As a dual-trained Health Advisor, I mainly take 999 calls but I take 111 calls when it’s not as busy. The calls mainly consist of people having chest pain, breathing problems, strokes and falls. It’s surprisngly quite rare to take ‘more dramatic’ calls such as a choking, child birth, major trauma.

Q. What skills do you think people need to be able to do this job?

Negotiation, teamwork, communication, confidence, decisiveness, compassion, empathy, ability to work to a level of emotional detachment, multi-tasking. A lot of these skills can be developed in the role, but having them already would be a benefit.

Q. It can be a traumatic job at times, how do you look after yourself and what support do you get from the trust?

I make sure I keep myself busy outside of work. I have a good group of friends I spend a lot of time with. I take part in regular hobbies such as rock climbing, go-karting and the gym.

Q. What has is been like working through a pandemic?

Working during the pandemic has been very challenging. At times it’s been stressful, especially with our increased call volume and big changes to policies. But as a team we’ve got through it and managed to help thousands of patients.

Q. From taking on this role, where do you see your career headed?

I am hoping to remain in NEAS. I have a background in media, so I may consider moving over to the communications team. I’m also interested in going out on the road either as a paramedic or clinical care assistant.

Q. What life skills has this training and job given you?

This job given me valuable skills and experience I don’t think I could get anywhere else. It’s enabled me to develop skills such as negotiation, communication, assertiveness and working under immense pressure. I’m able to multi-task so much better than I used to be and I’m a lot more confident as a person. I’ve taken almost every type of call there is – such as talking somebody down from a bridge, child birth, cardiac arrests and major road traffic collisions. Being able to deal with these types of calls has given me experience and skills I will be able to transfer into any job or situation.