EEAST staff receive special honours at national awards

Nicole Douglas, who works in EEAST's Norwich control room, was given a special Judges' Award for her role in taking the first 999 call during a train attack in Huntingdon on November 1 last year.

Nicole, who qualified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) in 2020, had returned to the ambulance service after a career break and was retraining as a call handler at the time of the incident.

During the recent presentation in Hull, the audience was told: "Nicole had been a call handler for just seven months and was only in her second week of mentoring when her phone rang.

"She recognised, incredibly quickly, that this was far more than a routine emergency and escalated her concerns immediately.

"While the terrifying events continued to unfold, Nicole stayed focused on what mattered most. She gathered the critical information emergency services needed. She established the location. She kept the caller talking.

"And because of her professionalism and exceptional situational awareness, a Major Incident was declared within just seven minutes, allowing emergency crews to reach the scene within minutes."

The Judges' Award has only been granted on one other occasion, and this year it was also awarded to British Transport Police for their role in the same incident. ** Phil Evans, acting Senior Operations Centre Manager at EEAST, said:** "We are all incredibly proud to see Nicole receive this special award. Her actions on 1 November when she took the first 999 call from the awful incident were nothing short of brave."

Dean Nock, Keri Drury and Lucie Neave also received a highly commended award in the BAPCO Control Room Innovation category of the awards.

The British APCO Award is for a team or individual who have taken a unique or innovative approach with technology used in the control room. The EEAST team received the award for introducing the first specialist trauma training for control room teams in a UK ambulance service earlier this year.

Already used by police and RNLI crews, TITEN training has been adapted by the EEAST team for ambulance control rooms. The training explains how the brain processes trauma and provides practical techniques to manage stress, and build long-term resilience.

Notes for editors

• The events of 1 November 2025 are the subject of ongoing court proceedings.
• More details about the Control Room Awards can be found here.