Vikki's Journey - Leadership Development Manager

Vikki Darby is one of our leadership development managers. She has been with the Trust for 20 years.

I joined the East of England Ambulance NHS Trust (EEAST) back in 2004 as a student paramedic and was part of the second cohort at the University of Hertfordshire. I worked as a trainee in Luton until I qualified as a paramedic in 2006 and haven’t looked back since.

I had always wanted to teach and ever since discovering the Trust had a commercial services team, I was keen to deliver training. In 2012 I started working with them as a training officer who taught CPR in schools. This was immensely satisfying knowing that they could have an impact on survival of cardiac arrests.

Following this, I joined the resuscitation team at Addenbrookes hospital working as a resuscitation training officer. This involved responding to cardiac arrest calls in the hospital and delivering training for 18 months, whilst continuing to work for EEAST as bank staff.

In 2016, I decided to return to EEAST as a full-time commercial training officer. Fast forward three years and I became the senior commercial training officer in the community first responder (CFR) training team, which involved me leading a team of six trainers. The CFR team delivered training and education to volunteers within the Trust, ensuring they had the qualifications to meet their needs in the training circle.

This role allowed me to work in education and with volunteers for three years, which was a dream come true. I loved being able to pass on my knowledge and skills that may be able to save a life, maybe even my own one day! I enjoyed leading the team and interacting with the volunteers I served.

I felt I was ready for a new challenge and that has led me to take on my new role – leadership development manager for Norfolk and Waveney. In this role I want to make sure that I make a difference to everyone that joins me as they take part in their leadership and development. I like the freedom that I have had as part of the EEAST team, the option to either stay in one department or spread my wings into a new one.

Although it has been a challenging journey to progress and get to where I am today, that experience has made me passionate about helping others with their own development and leadership path. There really is no other job like it and the ambulance service is in my blood.