Queen's Birthday Honours 2018 - Fire, Police and Ambulance Service

Recipients of Queen’s Fire, Police and Ambulance Service medals in Scotland are as follows:

Queen’s Fire Service Medal

• Rosemary Curtis, Watch Manager, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• Libby Logan, Group Manager, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
• David Rout, Area Manager, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

Queen’s Police Medal

• Craig Rankine, Inspector, Police Scotland
• Suzie Mertes, Superintendent, Police Scotland

Queen’s Ambulance Service Medal

• Pat McGrattan, Paramedic, Scottish Ambulance Service

 QUEEN’S FIRE SERVICE MEDAL

Rosemary Curtis, Watch Manager, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

Rosemary Curtis is the Watch Manager at Kilchoan Community Fire Station, which serves the 150 residents in her small community on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, Lochaber, Scotland.

Rosemary joined Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service in October 1998 as a volunteer firefighter. In 2005, the Fire Station at Kilchoan was upgraded from volunteer status to retained duty system.

In 2013, there was a very real possibility that the station at Kilchoan would cease to operate due to the loss of the station managers. Rosemary, recognising the organisational need, volunteered to take on the  management of the Fire Station, leading the crew to secure longer term resilience and the ability to deliver a fire and rescue service to the local community. This required her to acquire operational command competence in a relatively short timescale, whilst at the same time ensuring that she was developing the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding so that she was prepared for her future  role as Watch Manager of Kilchoan Community Fire Station.

As a result of her hard work and determination, Rosemary was promoted to Watch Manager at Kilchoan Community Fire Station in April 2014.

Since taking up this role, Rosemary has led her crews with drive and passion, and has ensured her community has an operational, competent, and highly motivated team of firefighters. She has actively recruited more firefighters from within the community to enhance the profile, resilience and sustainability of the station.

As a result of Rosemary’s leadership, Kilchoan Community Fire Station completes more than their allocated home fire safety visits, which is where firefighters attend people’s homes to assess risk and advise on fire safety matters.

Individually, each of the roles performed by Rosemary at Kilchoan Community Fire Station have required dedication, commitment, and enthusiasm – and to be able to perform both these roles to the high standard that she does is testament to her professionalism and focus. 

Libby Logan, Group Manager, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

Libby Logan first joined the Fire Service in 1992 when she was appointed as a Fire Control Operator in the former Strathclyde Fire Brigade. She later transferred to Tayside and thereafter the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), following its creation in April 2013.

In her current role as Group Manager, Libby has responsibility for both learning and development and systems and data within the SFRS operations control function. This is a national remit, which requires Libby to oversee the operations control across the service’s three centres in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee.

She also has a key role in the SFRS’s project to implement a new Command and Control Mobilising System, which will provide a new method to receive calls, dispatch resources, and manage the assets assigned to operational incidents.

In 2015, Libby took command of the Dundee operations control during the flooding that affected Perth, Kinross, Angus, and Dundee. She operated over the course of many days to ensure that adequate resources and relief crews were available.

Libby played an important role within the reform group that oversaw the creation of the SFRS. She worked with colleagues to ensure that the systems and data inherited from the legacy control rooms were stabilised and transferred successfully and without disruption.

The former control centres across Scotland were merged into three operations control centres that now operate from Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee. During this time, Libby worked with her teams across Scotland to ensure that they were experienced within the operations control environment, and had the confidence to undertake call handling, dispatch, and incident management within areas that were new to them.

Libby is an asset to the SFRS and her leadership and strong interpersonal skills proved invaluable during the period of change.

David Rout, Area Manager, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

David Rout completed more than 32 years of service. He started work in 1985 with Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade as a retained firefighter in the Scottish Borders, before joining the wholetime service in 1988 as a firefighter with Grampian Fire Brigade, which saw him relocate to the North East of Scotland.

On retirement, David was an area manager in the post of Local Senior Officer for the Aberdeenshire and Moray area – a role he held from its inception on the creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) in April 2013.

In addition to David’s commitment to his day job, he took on the strategic lead for the SFRS contribution to the Scottish Government’s Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) strategy. It was recognised that survival rates in Scotland for those suffering an OHCA were amongst the poorest in Europe. To address this, the OHCA strategy was produced in 2015 by a broad coalition of stakeholders with an ambition that by 2020 Scotland would become an international leader in the management of OHCA.

David embraced this ambassadorial role and the responsibility that came with it. He promoted the vision of the strategy and empowered people to contribute to the wider OHCA agenda. As a result of his efforts and leadership, 16 Community Fire Stations across Scotland went operational with a trial of OHCA response from October 2015 to September 2017. During this period, the 16 stations responded to 146 OHCA incidents and made 41 lifesaving interventions, which resulted in 15 lives being saved.

Even in the short period that the OHCA strategy has been in place, the evidence suggests that it is making a difference and now starting to deliver against its stated objectives. More people in Scotland are now surviving OHCA than ever before and the work delivered by David is contributing to this success story.

David’s work has laid the foundation to allow the ever expanding role of the firefighter and the SFRS to move into mainstream delivery of OHCA interventions across Scotland. 

QUEEN’S POLICE MEDAL

Craig Rankine, Inspector, Police Scotland

In September 2013, Inspector Craig Rankine was appointed as the first National Programme Manager for the Police Scotland Youth Volunteers (PSYV) programme.

The programme gives young people of all backgrounds a positive means of engagement with the police service. Through regular training and participation in community safety initiatives, youth volunteers are given opportunities to overcome barriers and discover their talents whilst making a positive contribution to their communities.

Under Craig’s leadership, the programme has grown rapidly and now has a national governance structure with 29 police officers who run local groups across Scotland for 13-18 year-olds. There are currently 32 groups operating, involving over 1,000 young people. Approximately 25% of the volunteers are recruited from vulnerable backgrounds.

Craig has played a fundamental role in ensuring PSYV’s success. He has built strong relationships with partner agencies – including experts in youth work, Young Scot and Youth Link Scotland – to ensure the progression of the programme. He has also ensured the programme’s sustainability by securing funding from the Scottish Government and support from industry leaders across the country and the Force Executive.

Craig’s personal commitment has directly contributed to the development of many young people and his outstanding leadership is widely recognised both within and outwith Scottish Policing.

PSYV has volunteered at a number of events across Scotland, amassing in excess of 30,000 volunteering hours nationwide. Its groups have received 595 awards, including 539 Saltire awards, for the number of hours invested in volunteering.

PSYV’s success has also been recognised globally, which has resulted in the police service in New Zealand requesting Inspector Rankine to design a programme modelled on it.

Suzie Mertes, Superintendent, Police Scotland

Suzie Mertes joined Tayside Police in 1995 and has since had a variety of postings throughout Tayside, as well as within the Tayside Police control room and at the Scottish Police College.

As an experienced Event and Public Order Commander, Suzie has been involved in the planning, delivery, and operational leadership of major national and international events. These include the 2005 G8 Summit, the visit of the Dalai Lama to Dundee and the Olympic Torch Relay at Baxter Park, both in 2012, and the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and T in the Park music festival.

Not withstanding the successful high-profile events that Suzie has been instrumental in delivering, arguably her highest attribute for Police Scotland is her leadership and ability to act as a role model to all officers.

In 2003, the Scottish Women's Development Forum (SWDF) was established as a working group of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. Since then, it has evolved into a staff diversity association with a remit to advise Police Scotland, the Scottish Police Authority, and the Scottish Government about gender equality within Scottish Policing.

As a member of the SWDF for many years, Suzie recognised that the focus and direction of the group needed to better align with modern policing and to the changing expectations of its members.

Suzie was elected as SWDF Chair in April 2014, and has since created an Executive Committee to support a more effective decisionmaking forum. She has also actively encouraged committee members to develop work streams in areas of interest the group’s members, and thereby further develop their own skills in the process.

As a result, SWDF has encouraged and supported Police Scotland in delivering meaningful policy and practice change in areas such as pregnancy and maternity, flexible working, selection processes, and mentoring.

QUEEN’S AMBULANCE SERVICE MEDAL

Pat McGrattan, Paramedic, Scottish Ambulance Service

With over 34 years’ service with the Scottish Ambulance Service, Pat has spent more than 20 years volunteering his time and using his own resources and materials to provide training for all levels of ambulance staff throughout Glasgow and Lanarkshire.

Every second Sunday, Pat spends his time holding formal lessons and practical demonstrations aimed at staff seeking to progress their career. By doing this, Pat gives the staff an opportunity to prepare themselves at their own pace before undertaking a formal course.

He continues to help develop staff and promote new skills through his role as a paramedic and by supervising students through their probationary period. Pat is highly respected throughout the region.