Cookhill WI

It is unusual to be the first in anything, especially when it occurs without planning. Our speaker this evening was the first woman ambulance officer to work both on land and in the air, in the Hereford and Worcestershire Ambulance service. She left education, unsure what path to take for her working life, and by chance chatted to an ambulance driver and became fascinated by the work. Ambulance officers, thirty years ago, were mostly men, but as Yvonne had a clean driving licence, she applied and began her training and became an ambulance driver. Initially the role of an Ambulance team was to get the patient as quickly as possible to hospital. Gradually over the years ambulance personnel were able to develop their first aid skills. Having attained full training she was approached to take to the air! Yvonne remarked that she had not only a fear of heights but also of needles – so becoming an Air Ambulance person was a challenging choice. Yvonne recounted her life serving in the service, but avoided speaking about some of the horrendous incidents she had attended. After retiring from the Service she then decided to use her experience to assist people with dealing with difficult and stressful events that occurs in life together with talking and encouraging people to have a better understanding of the valuable service offered by the Ambulance Team. Interestingly now the service has developed even further with teams of paramedics working along the Ambulance team to offer instant care together with safe transportation to hospital on land or air.

The President then informed members of events happening in the next few months in particular the celebrations around the Queen’s 90th birthday celebration when it was hoped we could celebrate with a garden party, in a member’s garden in June around the time of the Queen’s official birthday.

Cookhill WI meets the second Wednesday of each month 7.30pm at Cookhill Village Hall, providing a variety of speakers to suit all tastes together with opportunities to participate in classes and enjoy trips out to interesting venues. New members very welcome.