Queens honours Saddleworth born ambulance chief

Keith Prior is the National Director of the Ambulance Resilience Unit

A Saddleworth man has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Ambulance Service Medal for Distinguished Service (QAM) in the Queens New Year Honours.

Keith Prior is the National Director of the Ambulance Resilience Unit (NARU)
 
The QAM traditionally honours a small, select group of ambulance personnel who have shown exceptional devotion to duty, outstanding ability, merit and conduct in their roles in NHS Ambulance Services.
 
Keith, who now lives in Dobcross, has served 39 years in the NHS ambulance service, starting as a cadet in the Greater Manchester Ambulance Service in 1981.

He became a frontline paramedic rising through the ranks to Assistant Chief Officer of West Midlands Ambulance Service, where he has managed NARU as its National Director since 2011.

The award citation said: “Since 2011 Keith has made a significant contribution to UK national resilience by leading NARU, ensuring the effective ambulance response to major, mass-casualty incidents including the Manchester Arena bombing, London terror attacks, severe flooding, the Salisbury chemical attack, Ebola, Covid-19 and other high-risk events.
 
“He has worked tirelessly to ensure the emergency services work more closely together, as the Deputy Strategic Ambulance Lead to the Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Programme (JESIP) - established in 2012 to improve how the police, fire and ambulance services work together at major or complex incidents.
 
“Under his leadership, NARU is now recognised as a world-class central resource for the national management and coordination of the pre-hospital mass casualty response to particularly high-risk and challenging events.

“Nationally and internationally, NARU is now seen as a leader in the field of education and training for specialist ambulance operations, as well as being accepted as a trusted Government resource for policy development, advice and assurance in all aspects of specialist ambulance operations.”
 
Commenting on his award, Keith said: “It is very humbling to have been recognised in this way, at a time when so many ambulance staff across the UK are working tirelessly to try and keep people safe and save lives during this national pandemic.
 
“But it is also a tremendous honour to lead NARU at this crucial time and I would like to pay tribute to my team who devote so much time and effort into supporting the development and improvement of national resilience within the ambulance service.

“Without their hard work, NARU would not be the successful organisation it is today, and I feel in many ways I am accepting this honour on their behalf too.”
 
Keith is a committee member at Uppermill FC and Dobcross Band Club. He was a pupil at St Chads School, Uppermill and Saddleworth School.
 
He played football for Uppermill FC for 35 years including 15 years as a player manager and was a paramedic at Oldham and Crompton Ambulance Stations.

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