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Today marks International Paramedics Day 2025, a global celebration of the vital role paramedics play in healthcare. Held each year on 8 July, the date honours the birthday of Dominique‑Jean Larrey, who is widely regarded as the father of modern ambulance services.
This year’s International Paramedics Day theme is Unity and Community, designed to highlight the importance of collaboration between paramedics and the communities they serve.
International Paramedics Day 2025 is set to be the biggest yet, with more than 140 paramedic-affiliated organisations across the globe signed up to take part.
“Paramedicine is not just a profession — it is a collective calling. This year’s theme, Unity and Community, reminds me that behind every single response, every decision, and every act of care or compassion, there is a team — a network of support, knowledge, practice and shared purpose. It’s through this unity that we are able to find strength when things seem bleak, or we are weary.
“And it’s through our community that we create lasting impact on those who come into contact with us through our professional lives, or through our people volunteering to offer their skills wherever they may be needed. On this International Paramedics Day, let’s celebrate the power and possibility of working together, because when we unite, we not only have the potential to change lives, we can also transform futures as well.”
Tracy Nicholls, Chief Executive of the College of Paramedics.
Spotlight on Yorkshire Ambulance Service
As International Paramedics Day shines a light on frontline care, Yorkshire Ambulance Service has reflected on the evolving role of its paramedics and the innovative ways they’re delivering patient-centred care across the region.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service’s 2,165 paramedics responded to around 900,000 emergency incidents across the region in 2024–25.
Dave Green, Chief Paramedic, praised paramedics as “highly skilled autonomous clinicians” who now provide more than emergency response, including ‘see and treat’ and ‘hear and treat’ services that help reduce hospital admissions and ease NHS pressures.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedics are also leading innovation in pre-hospital care, from using telemedicine tools like stroke video triage, to deploying Specialist Paramedics in Critical Care and MERIT teams to enhance trauma response. Closer collaboration with mental health services and the use of electronic patient records are further ensuring patients receive the right care at the right time.
The College of Paramedics first launched International Paramedics Day in 2022. Since then, the number of UK and global partners that have pledged their support to the campaign has continued to grow, and the vital work of paramedics is now recognised, talked about and celebrated in over 30 countries.
For more information, visit the International Paramedics Day website.
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