New Year Honours: Ambulance boss awarded medal

Salman Desai said he was "intensely humbled" to receive the new King's Ambulance Medal

An ambulance service boss described as a "trailblazer" for equality has been recognised in the New Year Honours.

North West Ambulance Service deputy chief executive Salman Desai has been honoured with a King's Ambulance Medal.

Mr Desai was commended for his "distinguished" service including being involved in the emergency response to the Derrick Bird shootings in west Cumbria in 2010.

Mr Desai said he was "intensely proud" and humbled by the award.

"Helping people and shaping the organisation to meet and serve the needs of all of our communities is what motivates me," Mr Desai said.

"I have enjoyed every step of my career so far and receiving this honour is a true accolade."

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During his 25-year career he has also worked with vulnerable and disadvantaged groups across Greater Manchester to prevent deaths from drug use.

As well as the west Cumbria mass shootings, he provided commander support during the major flooding and mass evacuation of towns in Cumbria including Cockermouth and Keswick in 2009.

Ambulance service chief executive Daren Mochrie said: "Salman has worked hard to redress the balance of representation from ethnic minority communities within the ambulance sector, acting as a trailblazer for equity, equality, and a better understanding of the personal challenges that can bring."

Selected other awards:

Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

• Professor Joanne Rycroft-Malone, of Grange-over-Sands, former programme director for the National Institute for Health Research, for services to research

Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

• Steve Watts, from Grasmere, for services to fundraising after he turned pictures from his daily lockdown runs into a book to raise money for charity

• Eve Pattinson, from Penrith, founder of the Eden Riding for the Disabled group, for her charitable work

• Nick Owen, a team leader for the Langdale and Ambleside Mountain rescue, for his voluntary work

• Marie Joanne Hamer, of Penrith, the executive director of strategy and impact at the Ambition Institute, for services to education

• Edward Mallinson, of Troutbeck Bridge, chair of The Shamrock Trust, for services to steam boating heritage

• Nigel Robson, of Penrith, chair, Western Excellence in Learning and Leadership, for services to Education

• Sheila Ashburner for services to the community in Milnthorpe