Advanced paramedic Mark Giddens says he has "the best job in the world", and is part of a new recruitment campaign launched by the East of England Ambulance Service (EEAST).

Mark, who works out of Stevenage ambulance station, joined the ambulance service more than 30 years ago, at the age of 16, and has progressed through a wide variety of roles to his current position as an advanced clinical practitioner.

He said: "You are entering a patient’s life at either their worst time or best time, depending on the circumstances. We are placed in a very unique position and should respect that.

"We are there at some patients most vulnerable times and the way we interact with them, treat them, talk to them, even smile and look at them will probably stay with them for a lifetime.

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"I have always been proud to wear my uniform and proud to take part in this campaign. This is a vocation, rather than just a job. It’s a privilege to help people in their hour of need."

Mark is a case study in the new Career For Life campaign – which has the hashtag #CareerForLife on social media – that highlights individuals' career journeys at EEAST, with the aim of inspiring new recruits to a career in the region’s ambulance service.

The campaign showcases the variety of roles at EEAST, from paramedics and emergency medical technicians, to those who work in the emergency operations centres, training and education, recruitment, IT and community response.

Joining straight from school, Mark’s first role at the ambulance service was taking non-urgent calls in the emergency operations centre control room, before handling emergency calls.

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He moved into a role within the patient transport service and in 1996 joined frontline operations as an emergency medical technician.

He became a paramedic in 2000, an emergency care practitioner in 2006 and, after completing a degree in 2008, became an advanced paramedic in urgent care.

Now an advanced clinical practitioner, he oversees the mentoring of EEAST's advanced and specialist paramedics.

Mark said: "I was very young when I first joined, with little life experience. I have grown up with the ambulance service and, as I grew as a person, I embraced the new developments that evolved.

"The service has changed so much over time and faced many challenges – some good, some bad. The evolution of pre-hospital practice has advanced at a fast pace and keeping up has been challenging but well worth the effort."

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Helen Adams, head of resourcing and shared services at EEAST, said: "Our campaign is to show that working at EEAST is a rewarding and fulfilling job and can be a career for life.

"Mark’s story exemplifies that, and we have tried to feature a broad range of roles, as people aren’t always aware of how many different departments are involved in the day-to-day running of the ambulance service.

"It’s also important to note the wide variety of positions people can switch between as their career progresses, through opportunities that are available at EEAST."

The trust’s website eastamb.nhs.uk has been updated with a new recruitment section, where you can find out details of the roles available at EEAST, and the #CareerForLife campaign will be on EEAST’s social media channels from this week.