Honouring inclusivity and support in paramedicine
Ash Deakins
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Creating a brandIn a bid to create an identity for Proud@WMAS, the committee tried to design a new logo but quickly realised that the already established design had resonance with current staff and so it remained. The rainbow star of life, used by the National Ambulance LGBT Network, of which we are a contributing member, was agreed as it was felt that it would achieve uniformity across other ambulance organisations and enable the network to be recognised more easily. The committee sourced some funding to purchase 200 star of life pin badges which were distributed to staff across the Trust—they were so well received that a waiting list for badges had to be drawn! Why was the badge important? It allowed people to identify—not only as allies but also as advocates. When asked about the badge, people can spread the good work of the network.The network knew that work needed to be done to support not only our workforce, but also the diversity of the population we serve. A key part of this is the transgender community. The team began developing a Trans Awareness Programme for the Trust to increase awareness among operational staff, availability of information, training, and development of internal policy.It was on the back of this that a member of staff approached their line manager to notify them of their intention to transition from female to male. Their manager immediately contacted the network for support, not only to assist the manager but also to offer direct support to the staff member.
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