Head of Operations and Critical Care Paramedic, Paddock Wood, South East Coast Ambulance Trust

Some NHS careers are defined by quiet consistency; others by a clear, lifelong mission. For Dave Hawkins, a Critical Care Paramedic at SECAmb, that mission has always been improving survival for people in cardiac arrest — a passion recognised when he became the first-ever recipient of SECAmb’s Douglas Chamberlain Award, created to honour the legacy of the renowned cardiologist and father of the paramedic profession. Douglas’s influence lives on in colleagues like Dave, whose commitment to saving lives has shaped every part of his career.

Across decades of service, Dave has shown unwavering dedication to improving outcomes for patients in cardiac arrest. Whether he is leading local injury‑scenario training, mentoring colleagues, treating patients as a critical care paramedic, or responding to life‑threatening incidents in his own community while off duty, his focus has always been the same: giving people the best possible chance of survival.

His leadership has also helped transform how communities respond to emergencies. Dave was a key driver behind the rollout of the GoodSAM app across SECAmb, ensuring that members of the public trained in basic life support can be alerted to nearby cardiac arrests within 500 metres. By empowering bystanders to act in those critical first minutes, he has helped build a system where more lives can be saved before an ambulance even arrives.

“I was incredibly honoured to be the first recipient of SECAmb’s Douglas Chamberlain Award,” Dave says. “Professor Chamberlain’s work has saved countless lives and continues to inspire everything my colleagues and I do each day. SECAmb is leading the way nationally on cardiac‑arrest survival rates, but we have a clear ambition to go further and save even more lives each year.”

For Dave, improving survival is a team effort — and one that extends beyond the NHS.

“Everyone should learn CPR,” he says. “In those critical first minutes before help arrives, the actions of bystanders can mean the difference between life and death. The more people who learn life‑saving skills, the more lives we can save together.”

As the NHS marks its 78th birthday and the first anniversary of the 10‑Year Health Plan, Dave’s story is a reminder that transformation is driven not only by new technology or clinical innovation, but by people whose commitment, skill and compassion change outcomes every single day.