Volunteer clinicians in Essex explain how local businesses can get involved to help emergency medical charity BASICS Essex deliver its life-saving service.
BASICS Essex is a local charity with a specialised team of 25 volunteer clinicians on call to provide critical pre-hospital care within minutes of a 999 call, working at the request of the East of England Ambulance Service.
The team of experienced volunteer doctors and paramedics are equipped to administer advanced pre-hospital care that traditional ambulance services cannot always provide.
“Our impact within the community is huge, but can go unnoticed”, says James Samouelle, an Advanced Critical Care Practitioner from Chelmsford, who has volunteered for the charity for over 8 years.
“You might not have heard of BASICS Essex unless you are in a situation where you or a family member needs us, so building public awareness can be a challenge.
“Working in the ambulance service, I had a loose understanding of what BASICS Essex was, but it wasn’t until I saw a roadside incident close to home that I began to realise I could do more to support my local community, and that’s why I joined the scheme.”
In 2024, the team was activated on 178 occasions across Essex, with cardiac arrest and medical incidents accounting for 53% of all calls. The team gave over 7,500 hours of voluntary time to helping save lives.
Nick Sillet, an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner and Clinical Supervisor/BASICS Essex volunteer, has responded to several road traffic collisions with critically injured patients, and recalls his recent invite to a patient reunion.
“Meeting the individual and their family was rather emotional and I felt privileged to have played a very small part in their care and recovery. This case still motivates me to volunteer for BASICS Essex to this very day.”
The charity does not receive any government funding and relies entirely on the generosity of the community it serves to stay operational, with £80,000 in annual running costs which include investment into medical equipment, vehicles, and day-to-day operations.
“There are lots of ways that businesses can play a part in helping us save lives, through corporate fundraising, charity spaces for the London Marathon, or even ‘Sponsoring a clinician’ like myself!”, Nick added.
BASICS Essex new Sponsor A Clinican scheme is encouraging local businesses to pledge to fundraising £1,000 per year, with Colchester based Accountants Wood + Disney the first to sigh the pledge.
Each business that gets involved will receive a host of benefits on offer including a team CPR/AED session, a logo on the Clinician’s hoody, regular team updates and highlighting team fundraising efforts across various digital channels.
“We want to encourage businesses that want to do something charitable and want to support their local community, to use whatever means they have to help us,” Jay added.
“If your business wants to do something good for the Essex community, please get in touch or visit our website to find out more about who we are and what we do.”