Night Ambulance Crew Review

My role is now Night Ambulance Crew - our job is primarily care of the deceased, removals - meeting a recently deceased loved ones and taking the deceased into our care, coffin transfer, deceased transfer, coffin prep, deceased prep and general household duties. As I started the apprenticeship I was an Funeral Services Operative which included ambulance duties, but also additionally driving limo's and hearses in a ceremonial function caring for the deceased's family, bearing in at crematoriums or graveyards.

Taking part in the qualification highlighted I actually knew, whilst also giving me new skills. The trainer was able to take me through each of the roles that I did and allow me the space to be able to describe my skills. I developed my skills in prep during the course of training allowing me to integrate the skills I had to the new ones that I was learning.

I found the programme thoroughly enjoyable. Some of the modules I completed were not to do with my own role but the role of a funeral arranger. This helped me to understand the business that I work in as a whole and therefore the information that I provide to families when I meet them is relevant and useful to them.

I found the programme fit my needs. The assessor is helpful and knowledgeable and also gives you the space to complete the qualification in your own time without pressure and is extremely helpful. The questions and assessments are structured in a way that you can ask for help if you need and the assessor was only at the end of the phone is you need any help from her.

My employer ensured that I was given the time to complete the qualification, allocating me time each time the assessor was due, either allocating me time whilst on funerals or making me extra so that I could complete my qualification. On completing my course work at home I was paid for this.

I received a lot of support from my trainer. She was patient and supportive during the assessments and her communication skill were second to none. If I had any queries, concerns or questions emailing her I got precise and concise support for my query. I enjoyed the observations with her.

Completing the qualification has helped me feel more confident in my role and has equipped me with information that I can pass onto if needs be. It has confirmed the processes that I follow are correct and has allowed me to get a better understanding of the funeral business in general.

Because my job is working overnight I do not get much opportunity to engaged in company events or activities, I have done this before and it threw out my sleep pattern. Ours is a close knit team and enjoy social events and regularly meet up to celebrate occasions or to meet in a social context rather than work

Yes

The Co-op itself is a strange company to work for at times, but the job we do is highly rewarding - you get the opportunity to help people in what is probably the hardest time of their lives and the care that you provide can have a direct impact upon their grief process. We get to care for people that have recently died and I find that an honour to be able to do that.

Be patient. The recruitment process can take a while, especially with the security checks, but once you get through it you do a job that is very different to the usual jobs out there. It can be emotionally challenging at times and you get to see things that most people will never see, but as long as you can handle that you'll find that work is very chilled out and extremely rewarding.