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We are the only emergency ambulance service in greater Wellington and the Wairarapa, and the only ones in the country who are free.
We are the only emergency ambulance service in greater Wellington and the Wairarapa, and the only ones in the country who are free.
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Dr Andy Swain awarded the Sir David Hay Medal
Dr Andy Swain awarded the Sir David Hay Medal
27 November 2020
Wellington Free Ambulance Medical Director, Dr Andy Swain has been recognised for his lifelong contribution to resuscitation and emergency care across Aotearoa.
The prestigious Sir David Hay Medal was presented to Dr Swain on Monday 23 November – only the fourth time in 21 years that the medal has been awarded; a testament to the calibre of the award.
Dr Swain’s involvement in the resuscitation and emergency care community, in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom, is outstanding and far deserving of this recognition.
Apart from being “very honoured” to receive the medal, Dr Swain said that the Medal would take “pride of place” on his career achievements.
In his acceptance speech Dr Swain spoke to what he hoped to leave as his legacy.
Not only has he worked to impart his knowledge and passion of emergency care to future medical professionals and continues to publish research on resuscitation and cardiac arrests, Dr Swain has also worked to create a National Emergency Medical Service Database which doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world.
“The journey continues, I am extremely honoured to receive this award. This means more to me than almost anything else on my CV,” Dr Swain explained.
The Medal is awarded at the discretion of the New Zealand Resuscitation Council following nomination by resuscitation and emergency care professionals.
Past recipients are Dr Peter Leslie, Dr Duncan Galletly and Dr Shirley Tonkin.
New Zealand Resuscitation Council Chairperson, Dr Richard Aickin said that Dr Swain is a “stalwart of the resuscitation community and his influence has gone far beyond New Zealand. This award is richly deserved.”
Dr Swain has passionately supported education of health professionals and rescuers to improve outcomes from cardiac arrests. His dedication to his work has seen Wellington Free Ambulance boast one of the best survival rates from out of hospital cardiac arrests in the world.
He considers this testament to the skill and commitment of the ambulance staff with whom he has the privilege to work.
Dr Swain was also awarded a prestigious honorary membership of the Resuscitation Council of the United Kingdom in 2018.
He has been involved with ambulance services since 1985 and also led the development of community paramedicine and flight paramedicine in the Greater Wellington Region.
Dr Swain is an incredible asset to Wellington Free Ambulance and we’re pretty honoured to have him leading our clinical care.