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The University of West London (UWL) has awarded Chief Paramedic for the London Ambulance Service Pauline Cranmer an Honorary Doctor of Letters in recognition of her distinguished career of over 30 years in the service.
Pauline joined the London Ambulance Service in 1994 as an Ambulance Technician and qualified as a Paramedic in 1996. Throughout her career, she has undertaken leadership roles at every level within the organisation, culminating in her current role as Chief Paramedic Officer, an integral part of the executive board of the Trust.
In her role, Pauline has executive responsibility for clinical education from entry level through to specialist and advanced practise, operational delivery, and emergency preparedness, resilience, and response. She is also the Accountable Emergency Officer for the London Ambulance Service. Additionally, she serves as the executive lead for the Trust for Safeguarding, sexual safety at work and the Women’s Network.
As Chair of the National Ambulance Education Network, Pauline brings together all trusts to focus on developing and improving education for clinicians within organisations, working closely with the College of Paramedics and Higher Education institutions. In 2024 Pauline took on the responsibility for the Emergency Capabilities Unit (formally known as the National Ambulance Resilience Unit) providing leadership for the national preparedness of interoperability emergency health capabilities.
Pauline said to the graduands:
“You are entering a profession that is as challenging as it is rewarding. You will be the calm in the chaos and the voice of reassurance. You will make a difference. Never underestimate the power of compassion, nor the impact that your presence will make in someone’s most vulnerable moments. At the heart of everything we do, every shift, every decision, every innovation is a patient. The patient is our purpose, their dignity, their safety, their wellbeing must always guide our actions.”
“Pauline is a powerful ally to the UWL Paramedic Science team, sharing our aspirations of graduates empowered with clinical excellence, leadership skills, and unwavering integrity. She is a vital critical friend to our strategic ambition and remains available to provide support at all levels despite such concurrent demand.”
Neil Larman, Paramedic Professional Lead and Course Lead at UWL’s College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare (CNMH) in his citation at the ceremony
An experienced Strategic/Gold commander since 2013, Pauline has managed both planned and unplanned events. She is skilled in emergency management and response, team building, succession planning, and organisational structure change and delivery. Pauline was awarded the Queen Ambulance Medal for distinguished service in the sector in 2019.
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