She was nominated for the award following the call lasting two hours and twenty minutes.
A mental health nurse has received a Police Chief Constable’s Commendation Award for helping to save a patient’s life.
Ellen Taylor-Hird, who works in the Control Room for the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), was nominated for the award following a call with a patient experiencing a mental health crisis.
Despite the call coming in the last twenty minutes of her shift, Ellen stayed on as she recognised the severity of the situation, and after two hours and twenty minutes on the phone she was able to get the patient the help they needed.
She said: “He would only engage with me for some reason, we had a bit of a therapeutic bond I suppose. We had a good chat about everything and in the end, he did agree to return to safety.
“I’ve been a qualified mental health nurse for thirteen years, so to me this is my job, but it’s always a good feeling when you get the right outcome for the patient.”
“My team leader told me I had got a letter from Lincolnshire Police so straight away I thought ‘oh no, I am in trouble here?’ I had no idea it would be for that job because it was months ago.
“It is my biggest achievement in my career and my teammates around me have been absolutely brilliant, spreading the word about it even though they know I don’t like the fuss.”
Due to COVID-19, Ellen’s award presentation was not able to go ahead but the police still found a way to get it to her.
She said: “I didn’t get my sparkly night of cocktails, but I did get Mr Postman delivering it through my letterbox! Thankfully, I was also able to tell my mum about the award before she passed away this year.”
