London Ambulance Service paramedic honoured with King’s medal for distinguished service

A dedicated paramedic has received a prestigious honour from His Royal Highness, The King at Windsor Castle.

Darren Farmer, Director of Ambulance Operations at London Ambulance Service, was awarded the King’s Ambulance Medal (KAM) for the care and commitment he has demonstrated in his 33 years of service.

Darren said: “It was absolutely magical to receive the medal from the King – I can’t really believe this has happened to me. I was able to take my family and the day was something we will never forget.

“I have never felt more proud to be a paramedic and to represent London Ambulance Service.”

Darren was first inspired to become a paramedic when he was away at university and heard that his father had collapsed in cardiac arrest.

Darren said: “I was the first person in my family to go to university and I was studying electronic engineering. I thought I knew what I was doing with my life – I was going to be an engineer.

“But then I got the call about my dad. Paramedics saved his life – and it changed my life.”

Darren joined London Ambulance Service and it wasn’t long before he was called to help a patient in cardiac arrest.

He said: “Of course it was emotional and sadly we couldn’t save our patient but I knew that I had done my best and we had done everything we could to help him.

“And that is still what inspires me – doing everything we can to help our patients. I feel proud every time I put my uniform on.”

Since Darren joined London Ambulance Service in 1992, he has been a key figure in emergency medicine – from incident commander at terror attacks to shaping the response to the COVID pandemic.

He has risen through the ranks to become Director of Ambulance Operations – a role that is responsible for more than 5,000 frontline colleagues and helps ensure the smooth-running of the ambulance service across the capital.  .

He has innovated improvements in team-working which has led to more manageable workloads and staff satisfaction rising from 30 per cent to 80 per cent.

London Ambulance Service Chief Executive Jason Killens said: “This is a well-deserved honour which recognises Darren’s dedicated service to Londoners and to our own people.

“Darren is highly respected by his colleagues for his compassionate leadership and improving standards.

“I have known him for 20 years and without doubt he has helped drive forward improvements in patient care and made London Ambulance Service a better place to work.”