Glasgow High School Students Visit SAS

Nearly 40 students from two secondary schools, accompanied by Developing Young Workforce (DYW) coordinators, have visited three Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) sites to explore future career opportunities as part of the Young Minds Saves Lives Programme.

The students from Holyrood Secondary School and Shawlands Academy in Glasgow visited the ScotSTAR base at Glasgow airport, which houses the air ambulance team, the Emergency Medical Response Service and the neonatal and paediatric teams.

They were given an overview of the unique service which operates as a multi-disciplinary team of paramedics, nurses, advanced practitioners, and doctors supported by pilots working together to provide specialist care to seriously ill babies, children and adults across Scotland using specialist helicopters and planes.

They then heard from an air ambulance paramedic on the route he took to work in the service and from Gama Aviation who outlined the staff they employ to support the ScotSTAR service, such as ground handlers, engineers, pilots and aviation support staff.

To round off the visit to ScotSTAR, the pupils then had an opportunity to tour the base and get an up-close look at an air ambulance helicopter that had recently landed.

After the ScotSTAR visit, the pupils then visited Glasgow South Station to hear from staff about their role on the frontline and have a tour of an ambulance.

Finally, they then headed to the SAS Ambulance Control Centre (ACC) in Paisley where they heard about the numerous different roles that exist within the ACC. The students also had the chance to create imaginary 999 calls.

Haya Waseem from Holyrood Secondary School said: “I really enjoyed visiting the Scottish Ambulance Service and hearing from members of staff about the area they work in and what they do as part of their jobs. The tours of the air ambulance and road ambulance were my highlights, and the visit has also made me think that I could potentially do one of these jobs in the future.”

Michael Dickson, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “It was an absolute pleasure to welcome the young people to the Scottish Ambulance Service as part of the Young Minds Save Lives programme.

“Along with equipping young people with critical knowledge and skills on how to respond in a medical emergency and preventative healthcare, an important part of the programme is to raise awareness about opportunities for volunteering and future careers in healthcare. Many thanks to our staff who made the visits so fun and engaging.”