Charlotte Challis

I am a proud public servant; I have served in the emergency services for both police and ambulance for the last 15 years.

Studying at College and University has given me invaluable skills when it comes to collating and producing evidence-based analysis of a certain subject I was studying. I have self-discipline and the motivation to complete assignments on time, I am thorough and pay attention to detail, in order to do this I construct a plan which lists the tasks that need doing, in order of importance and the time frame to complete each task.

Managing my time is something I have excelled at not only at university when it came to deadlines for coursework submissions, but also in my role as Investigating Officer for the police service. When dealing with a person in custody it is important that the detainee is not unnecessarily detained in custody so it was important for me to gather and process all of the evidence, record victim and witness statements, conduct suspect interviews expeditiously, not only to prevent any breaches of the custody clock policies and procedures, but also in the interest of providing a level of service to the victim and members of the public who may have witnessed the event, to make sure that those responsible are brought to justice and enhance public confidence in policing.

Working on my own and using my own initiative is something I thrive on, however if there were a number of tasks to be completed, I am not afraid to ask colleagues in their assistance so we can work together collaboratively to obtain a desirable result for both service and customers. Having good judgment skills is having the ability to understand what external factors may need to be taken into consideration and to utilize the best resources available.

This is also the case when managing response times for certain category calls received in the ambulance emergency control room. It is my responsibility to manage the resources available and make sure certain category calls are managed and responded to as per national guidelines.

I have obtained extensive experience in an operational setting. I have excellent customer service skills, through the 999 calls, dispatching police and ambulance resources making sure all relevant and important information is relayed to those attending over the radio, in particular anything that would affect their safety at the scene and acting as bronze commander until a senior officer arrived on scene.

I have managed performance objectives, focusing on patient care and managing their expectations on a day-to-day basis. I manage several members of staff and resources both internally and externally with private ambulance providers. I am responsible for service delivery by making sure the correct resource is allocated to the most critical incidents and prioritize and assess each incident as they come in to manage the expectations of public and the community we serve. Continually analyzing and assessing the demand for an ambulance, monitoring hospital wait time, Vehicle of Road (VOR) reasons, and staffing shortfalls, to ensure we meet the trusts objectives and performance standards. To do this I formulate resourcing plans for eg movement of resources from other dispatch areas, liaising with other dispatch officers to formulate a resource strategy in particular to incidents on our service boundaries and the likelihood of where the patient will be taken in respect of hospitals to reduce the impact of time travelling to rural locations. This demonstrates that I can logically and analytically create a plan with patient care as my main focus, to problem solve a particular resourcing problem, whilst working under pressure, I have the confidence by using my own initiative, and meeting our performing standards by making these critical decisions.

Responding to incidents in person it was important to make sure I adapted my communication style when attending various incidents for example; from dealing with serious sexual assault victims, volatile situations at the scene of domestics, or at the scene of a fatality road traffic accident.

I have extensive experience using different communication methods to include phone, mobiles, airwave, Microsoft software, teams’ meetings and emails to name a few. The use of these technological methods and programs I appreciate the need for technology to play a vital part in assisting me to fulfil my duties to the best of my ability.

I am flexible in the way I convey and receive information. I communicate effectively by avoiding jargon, speaking clearly and concisely with minimum non-verbal communication which may be misunderstood. Good communication builds relationships, mutual trust, and confidence across diverse backgrounds.

I have the compassion and empathy to listen and support those who I have come into contact with during my career, be that victims of crime and when I have had to call patients at home who are unwell and explain the reason for the delay of the ambulance attending.
I am an active listener and ask appropriate questions to get all the information. It is important to obtain all the relevant and correct information to make an informed decision to resolve a certain situation. Using effective communication that is easily understandable to avoid delays or miscommunication. I work well under pressure, I can remain calm under pressure, think clearly, using logic and reasoning in order to prevent any wrongdoing and make critical decisions when necessary.

I have obtained and understood a great deal of different policies and procedures both in the police and the ambulance service, major incident procedures, and acts of particular law's, with that I understand the need to implement change and reflect on lessons learned when perhaps those policies and procedures have left the service or service users vulnerable. That is why it is important to work together along with the service user and other service providers to produce preventative measures and if acting out of policy for the benefit of service users to evidence the reasons behind it and the decisions I made. That said I am eager to take part in different courses to better my understanding of the service we provide in the ambulance service and attend and undertake further training and courses.

I have excellent written communication skills, taking and recording necessary notes, and passing on and sharing the information to support the development of colleagues and having an effective working relationship within the team. I pride myself on having mentorship qualities where I have trained and developed colleague’s skills and education with my tutorship, knowledge, and experience.

Naturally compassionate, I can show empathy and understanding, and find comfort in talking to people who may be emotional or distressed, by acknowledging their concerns through using effective communication, tone of voice, approachable body language and personal approach when it comes to communicating with others. I have succeeded in breaking down barriers that would prevent someone from sharing their story, particularly in the police, when I used my skills to gain confidence in the victim that I was there to listen and be guided by them on what their needs were at different stages of the investigation. My ability to bring communities and services together, to work together, set goals, lessons learned, and implement preventative measures to hopefully prevent any further incidents occurring again.

I have the passion to create a culture of continuous improvement and provide the best possible service, a problem solver, and a hard worker to achieve the best possible results. This passion is reflected in my volunteer work when I became a Special Constable. I am passionate about serving my community and helping people. I decided to take this further by successfully passing my Sergeants and Inspector’s role. These roles have given me valuable experience and knowledge of supervising teams of special constable and sergeants. It was my responsibility to develop my team whilst ensuring organizational standards are met and objectives achieved. This role involved planning, managing, and monitoring policing activity in relation to the special constabulary. It was my responsibility to assist in the deployment of special constable resources to planned operations, incidents of public disorder or critical or major incidents.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my career thus far in the emergency services industry. From being a Investigating Officer, volunteering as a Special Constable and working my way up to Special Inspector. Then diversing into police control room as a radio controller. Taking this experience to work for another emergency service within the Ambulance Service. I have specialised in Incident Command desk training which has given me experience and knowledge of major incident procedures working closely with our specialist resources such as HART (Hazardous Area Response Team, HEMS (Helicopter Emergency Medical Service), and other responding services, working together with Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Commander, Reginol Operations Manager, National Interagency Liasion Officer (Nilo’s) and other emergency service managers. This includes interoperability under JESIP (Joint Emergency Service Interoperability Programme) to provide multiagency working whether spontaneously or pre-planned and provide a structured response to a major incident using METHANE and the Joint Decision Model.