“We go above and beyond for A&E patients.”
Amelia is a biomedical student and a volunteer with the British Red Cross’s A&E team in Cardiff. Volunteering has had a big impact on her CV – and she finds it emotionally rewarding too.
Amelia joined the British Red Cross’s A&E volunteer team because she wanted to get clinical experience to support her degree. Just six months on, her Red Cross shifts are the highlight of her week.
“Not only is volunteering emotionally rewarding, it has honestly boosted me academically and in my career significantly,” she says. “It’s amazing to be part of the Red Cross team. I feel like it’s a selection of the kindest people from all areas of life!”
As a British Red Cross volunteer at the University Hospital of Wales, Amelia supports patients, relatives and staff in the emergency department.
Their distinctive Red Cross uniforms make Amelia and her colleagues easy to spot. “Someone will see us 20 metres down the corridor and shout, ‘Red Cross!’”
Find out more about volunteering with us and all of the different roles we have available by clicking on the links below:
Amelia, a British Red Cross A&E volunteer
For Amelia, the most rewarding part of volunteering is being there for someone who really needs help and kindness.
“In the bluntest way possible, their life really sucks right now for whatever reason – whether that's their ailment, or their living conditions or maybe a family member died. Whatever it is, they’re having a really bad day. So you do whatever you can for them and they come out of it a little bit happier. That’s the best feeling.”
Communication every step of the way
Shifts in A&E can be challenging. Amelia sometimes finds people’s social isolation upsetting.
“Loneliness is very prominent, especially in older people,” she explains. “Many patients we support have lived alone for years. Many say that they don’t look forward to going home because of the loneliness and settling in without any assistance.”
That’s where Amelia can make a difference. “Taking the time to take people home, talk with them and make sure they are comfortable really helps them feel more connected. It makes going home less daunting.”
The Red Cross also offers a follow-up call for the next day.
“We’ll phone patients and ask, ‘Is there anything further we can do for you?’ Often just a 30-minute chat can make someone feel better, especially if they’re feeling a bit lonely.”
Amelia remembers a visually-impaired patient who had injured his foot. His parents were very concerned but they lived too far away to come and take him home. So the Red Cross stepped in.
“We communicated with him every step of the way,” says Amelia. ‘Okay, we'll help you into the wheelchair now. We've got all of your bags. Have you got your phone? Have you got your keys? We’re going to start leaving now.’ He was really chatty and sociable, and in the car, he asked us to tell him what landmarks we were passing.
"When we got to his apartment, we heated up a frozen meal and helped him unpack. We laid everything out just how he liked it, with his phone and charger in the right place.”
For Amelia, supporting this patient was as interesting as it was rewarding. “I remember calling my parents afterwards and saying, ‘I had a really good day today’.”
Getting patients safely home
Resettlements are a big part of Amelia’s role.
“Resettlements are when we help patients who’ve been discharged from the emergency department to get home,” she explains.
“We go above and beyond for patients to make sure they’re comfortable and settled in.”
The team works in pairs and takes patients home in the Red Cross car - a white, five-seater Toyota. “It’s so big it might as well be a minibus,” says Amelia. “Learning to drive it was such an adjustment!”
Amelia and her Red Cross colleagues go out of their way to make patients feel supported. If someone has been in hospital for a while and their fridges are empty, the Red Cross will assist with grocery shopping or pharmacy visits on the way home.
New opportunities
Volunteering is opening doors for Amelia. Her Red Cross experience led her to a part time job at Welsh Blood. And on the very day we spoke to her, she’d received some good news.
“Just today I’ve heard back from the director of a lab offering me a position. They said they've given me the role because of my work with the Red Cross and Welsh Blood. And I only got the job at Welsh Blood because of the Red Cross.
"Volunteering really has given me a big boost academically, professionally and personally.”
If you'd like to learn more about volunteering with the British Red Cross, visit our volunteering page to find out what's involved and all of the ways that you can help.