The 25th Anniversary of our Chief Fire Officer

Our longest serving Fire Officer, John Power, has celebrated 25 years with London’s Air Ambulance [in post] this year. We are privileged to have people like John on our team, who have dedicated their lives to our cause. This incredible wealth of experience, unwavering professionalism and complete dedication to our patients, is what makes our service what it is.

When John joined London’s Air Ambulance on 1st April 1994, his ex-colleagues at Battersea Heliport joked that doing it on a Fool’s Day was rather telling – leaving a stable job for a charity whose future was unpredictable seemed foolish to many. “We were always fighting our corner, and no one could be sure if London’s Air Ambulance would be around the next year”, says John.

John’s life has always revolved around aviation. Originally from Wood Green, the sky above John’s house was always full of aircraft. He watched the planes take turns towards Heathrow and spent the weekends observing the planes at the airport.

Despite this life-long passion, it wasn’t primarily the aviation side of the service that struck him most when he first arrived at London’s Air Ambulance. When asked what went through his mind when he first visited after his interview in 1994, he says: “It’s hard to choose one single aspect of the service that made an impact on me that day, but I remember being impressed with the teamwork at the helipad. Everyone at the charity worked as a team, a close team. I simply thought ‘Wow, I want to work here’. And you knew you were doing some good. You can make an immediate difference to someone’s life”.

Happy anniversary to John!