Celebrating unity, community and care: honouring our paramedics on International Paramedics Day 2025

Original article posted on North East Ambulance Service North East Ambulance Service is today (8 July) shining a spotlight on the region’s lifesavers on the third International Paramedics Day.  

International paramedics Day was launched in 2022 by College of Paramedics to recognise and celebrate the work paramedics and first responders do around the world to give their patients the best possible treatment and care and improve the outcomes for those who are injured or unwell.  

The date chosen marks the anniversary of the birth of Dominique-Jean Larrey, the man often referred to as the 'father of modern-day ambulance services.'  

North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) employs over 1,000 paramedics across the region covering counties of County Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, and the boroughs of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees.     

The majority of the Trust’s paramedics work out on the road on an ambulance or specialist vehicle, working as a team alongside ambulance support practitioners to attend to more than 400,000 patients every year.  

However, as well as paramedics on the road, there are several roles within paramedicine including specialist paramedics, clinical team leaders, duty officers, HART paramedics, EPRR managers, consultant paramedics, head of operations, education development leads and many more which support patients across the region.  

The theme this year is ‘unity and community’ which highlights the different ways in which paramedics and colleagues across the ambulance sector work better together.  

Isobel McMillan, a paramedic at NEAS: “As a paramedic, ‘community’ means more than just the area. It represents the people, families, and lives that I’m entrusted to protect and care for. It’s about building trust, offering support in moments of crisis, and being a dependable presence during someone’s most vulnerable times. Community means connection, compassion, and responsibility—working not only to save lives, but also to strengthen the overall health and resilience of those around me.” 

If you want to know more about paramedics and what they do, take a look at the ‘Ask a paramedic’ page on the NEAS website: https://www.neas.nhs.uk/first-aid-community/learning-zone/ask-paramedic  

Chief executive, Kevin Scollay said: “Today is an opportunity for us to think about how great being a paramedic is, how respected it is and most of all, it is an opportunity to say thank you to each and every one of you for the fantastic work you to do every day.   

“This years’ theme is around community, which makes me think about our community here at NEAS and how we support each other to be better together, our wider NHS family and community but most importantly the communities we live alongside and serve each day.”  

Director of paramedicine, Andrew Hodge said: “Paramedics play a pivotal role, just not in our service but in the NHS as a whole, with different parts of the system increasingly realising the potential for our profession within their services.  

“International paramedics day is a great reminder to celebrate the work we do right across NEAS and within our communities and the patients we serve.”   

In the build-up to the event, we invited NEAS paramedics to share their stories with us to help us shine a light on the profession and give people a better understanding of the way they work in unity with colleagues and in various partnerships across the ambulance sector, you can read their stories here: https://www.neas.nhs.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/international-paramedics-day-hear-paramedics-north-east-ambulance-service