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Prince William, a champion of first responders, is heading out to meet some of London’s emergency teams before spending time with his family.
The 43-year-old Prince of Wales visited Britain’s largest ambulance service on Friday, October 17th.
He headed to the London Ambulance Service’s headquarters in Waterloo, where he met staff who work in welfare teams that support people in buildings and provide support and services to paramedics who carry out life-saving work every day.
Mr William also spoke to paramedics and other frontline workers about their experiences and the importance of providing mental health support to those working in emergency services.
Prince William, a former air ambulance pilot, has frequently highlighted the strain and stress of working on the front line of emergency services, and the mental health support these teams require.
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
London Air Ambulance passengers were shown around the emergency operations control room, where the team manages calls 24 hours a day. He discussed the different roles within the service with call handlers, ambulance dispatchers and members of the clinical hub team.
William, who piloted East Anglia Air Ambulance from 2015 to 2017 and flew 999 missions, was then taken on a tour of the service’s vehicles, including the world’s first purpose-built all-electric ambulance and electric rapid response vehicle. He was also introduced to professional paramedics and participated in training demonstrations.
Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the service’s launch.
Each year, Blue Light Services receives millions of emergency calls, provides in-person care, and administers approximately 180,000 treatments over the telephone.
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Prince William’s royal outing comes as Duchess Kate and his three children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – are preparing for their school holidays at the start of the autumn half term. The Prince and Princess of Wales usually try to keep work to a minimum while their children are on break, in order to spend time as a family.
The family also plans to move into a new home within the next few weeks.
