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This year, Emergency Services Times continued to focus on what matters most to the people working across the UK’s emergency services: the challenges you face, the changes shaping your work, and the ideas helping you adapt, collaborate and move forward.
From breaking news and in-depth interviews to live events, webinars and podcasts, 2025 has been a year defined by connection. Not just in reach, but in the quality of conversations taking place across the sector.
EST by the numbers
Over the past year, content on Emergency Services Times was viewed more than 500,000 times, with 266,000 visitors coming to the site to read, watch and listen.
We published 1,600 articles, covering everything from frontline innovation and operational change to policy, technology, wellbeing and sustainability.
In 2025, we hosted 12 webinars, designed to tackle real-world challenges and create space for open discussion across services and suppliers.
- 3,443 registrations
- 1,755 live attendees
- 590 catch-up views
Our most-attended sessions reflected some of the biggest issues facing the sector:
- Learning from major incidents: how to improve communications
- Preparing for Martyn’s Law and having the right kit in the right place
- Preparing for changes to road traffic collision response
Newsletters, shows and live studio content
Throughout the year, we delivered 233 newsletters, helping readers keep up with the stories shaping the emergency services landscape.
At The Emergency Services Show and The Emergency Tech Show, we brought the sector together with:
- 60 curated sessions
- 165 speakers
- Across four stages
From the EST Studios, we also recorded 14 supplier sessions and 17 podcast episodes live at the show, adding another layer of insight from across the industry.
In January we launched our podcast, For Every Response, which has continued to grow in both reach and engagement:
- 96 episodes released
- 6,800 downloads
- 5,800 listeners
You told us that you value in-depth conversations with industry leaders and we’ll be bringing plenty more of those into next year.
Across 2025, Emergency Services Times helped generate leads and awareness for more than 55 brands, supporting organisations working to equip, protect and support emergency responders. Will you be one of them in 2026? Get in touch to find out more information here.
The stories that shaped the year
Sustainability remained a strong theme throughout the year, with services continuing to balance ambition with practicality. Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service showed early on that the route to lower emissions doesn’t always start with fully electric fleets, using alternative fuels as a meaningful step towards net zero. That focus on realistic progress was echoed later in the year when West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service opened its new green headquarters, putting organisational culture at the heart of the move rather than treating it as a purely estates-led project.
The evolving role of the ambulance service featured prominently across the year. As leaders gathered at the Ambulance Leadership Forum in Leeds, AACE Chair Jason Killens spoke about how ambulance services are increasingly helping to lead and co-design urgent and emergency care, not simply respond to it. That shift was reflected on the ground through London Ambulance Service’s phone-first triage model, which freed up thousands of frontline crew hours and helped the trust meet national response time targets during one of its busiest winters on record.
Technology continued to create both opportunity and challenge across policing and the wider emergency services. Our deep dive into Live Facial Recognition explored how the technology is being deployed, what officers see during operations and the safeguards in place. Elsewhere, new research highlighted the often-overlooked impact of language barriers, revealing how communication challenges can slow response times, influence decision-making and, in some cases, compromise safety.
Pressure on people, particularly volunteers, was another recurring theme. Mountain rescue teams spoke candidly about the growing strain caused by a surge in callouts linked to TikTok-driven tourism, with ill-prepared visitors increasingly pushing volunteer crews towards burnout. Later in the year, ambulance volunteers were recognised at a national level, with ministers describing Community First Responders as ‘indispensable’ and new research underlining the life-saving role they play in strengthening NHS resilience.
Debate around legislation, pay and accountability also ran through 2025. A former fire chief’s call for changes to fire safety law reignited discussion around prevention, responsibility and local leadership, while confirmation of a 4.2 per cent pay rise for police officers in England and Wales prompted renewed conversation about workforce morale, recruitment and retention across the service.
As the year drew to a close, attention turned to both preparedness and wellbeing. Counter Terrorism Policing announced two major initiatives aimed at improving protective security and readiness for terrorist attacks, responding directly to recommendations from the Manchester Arena Inquiry. At the same time, a new national sporting event was announced with a very different focus – using competition and shared experience to spark a wider conversation about emergency responder mental health.
Thank you for being part of our year
Whether you read one article, joined a webinar, listened to a podcast or stopped by the EST Studios at the show, thank you for being part of the Emergency Services Times community.
Your engagement, insight and support continue to shape what we do and we’re looking forward to bringing you more stories, conversations and connections in the year ahead. See you in 2026.
