The King's Ambulance Service Medal, formerly the Queen's Ambulance Service Medal, is awarded to members of the NHS Ambulance Service (and equivalents) in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

and

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

for distinguished service. It was introduced on 11 July 2011 and first awarded during the

2012 Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours List 2012 was released on 16 June 2012 in the United Kingdom, on 11 June 2012 in Australia on 4 June 2012 in New Zealand,post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

"KAM" or "QAM" depending on when the award was made.

Award criteria

The UK Department of Health has published guidance on the award of the Medal. Those recommended for the Medal will usually have completed 10 years good conduct and exemplary service, and will have shown distinguished or meritorious service, including service marked by exceptional ability, merit and exemplary conduct. The guidance identifies the following aspects of performance as being particularly important:- *I. Very high levels of sustained performance while temporary filling posts that would normally attract a higher rank or grade; *II. Prolonged service, but only when accompanied by exceptional achievement and merit; *III. Completion of a significant piece of work or project that results in substantial improvements for patients and/or staff; *IV. Taking on additional roles or responsibilities (in addition to their core role) that results in significant improvements for patients and/or staff; *V. Taking a leading role in developing IT systems to improve performance and efficiency of the Ambulance Service; *VI. Taking a significant and prolonged leading role in training and development to promote staff knowledge and skills; *VII. Success in organising ambulance services under special difficulties, for example, managing major, serious or dangerous operational incidents, which make exceptional demands on personnel; *VIII. Special services to Royalty or Heads of State. The number of nominations in any one year is not to exceed ten, including up to 4 Medals for England, up to 2 Medals for Wales, up to 2 Medals for Scotland, up to 1 Medal for Northern Ireland, and up to 1 Medal for the Channel Islands.

Design

* The medal is silver, with the

obverse The obverse and reverse are the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ''obverse'' ...

having the crowned effigy of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

. * The medal's reverse is design emblematic of the Ambulance Service. It depicts a

rod of Asclepius In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; , , , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing ...

superimposed over a and a horizontal chequered band or

Battenburg markings Battenburg markings or Battenberg markings are a pattern of high-visibility markings developed in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and currently seen on many types of emergency service vehicles in the UK, Crown dependencies, British Overseas Terr ...

in the centre. Above is the rod is the inscription 'FOR DISTINGUISHED' and below is 'AMBULANCE SERVICE'. * The ribbon is of pale green with a narrow central stripe of silver and narrow silver stripes at either edge.

References

{{Decorations of the United Kingdom Civil awards and decorations of the United Kingdom

Award criteria

Design

See also

References