Emmanuel Arbenser, popularly known to all of us as Emma, has and continues to be a very passionate and active member of the 1980 year group.

What can you tell us about yourself? 
Over the past twenty years, I have been privileged and honoured to serve this wonderful and fantastic group in various capacities notably as a two term group secretary and also as a long term President. I have been happily married for the past twenty six years and we have been blessed with two sons. I currently work for the London Ambulance Service manning a front line emergency ambulance.

How has your career evolved over the years?
I did not start my career in the Ambulance Service. I had the opportunity to study medicine but my real passion was flying. I originally trained as a pilot gaining my Private Pilots License and then my Commercial Pilots License. Unfortunately, I missed the boat with airline sponsorship since the Air Transport Pilots License was beyond my means. I reluctantly gave up the commercial dream but I still fly light aircraft to remain current.

I decided to pursue a career in IT and project management. I am a PRINCE2 Practitioner and was working as a project manager in the IT industry. I was a mainframe developer specialising in main frame applications, DTP and web design. I had a fantastic career in IT working for a couple of banks in the UK before relocating to Paris to work for Société Générale, project managing financial programs I developed which are still in use today.

You were in banking so how did you end up working for the Ambulance Service? 
I was living in Paris for five years and commuting weekly between London, Paris and Madrid when our first son was born. This became exhausting so I relocated to London nine months later. I remained in the industry until our second son was born and I resigned shortly afterwards to care for my son.  As most of you are aware, I was born into the world of medicine so it must be in my blood. After a couple of years mulling about how best to contribute in the field of medicine, I decided to train as a medic since I had found this experience so rewarding.

How did you find the transition from banking to health care?
Initially, it was difficult since one had to go back to school and study again. We are trained extremely well to cope with the unexpected and we receive advanced driver training to enable us drive at high speed in all conditions. I found all my hospital placements very interesting especially in theatre and the maternity unit. The job is extremely rewarding and varied since it could be a routine job of a sports injury, a cardiac arrest, a stroke or simply delivering a baby. Unfortunately, times have changed and we are tasked to dealing with stabbing and shootings on a fairly regular basis.

I also work for SORT (Special Operations Retrieval Team) which is part of the service. We receive specialist training since we are tasked to specific major incidents. This role requires a high level of fitness and is activated at a moment’s notice. We are on call 24 hours a day (365 days a year) so being part of this team can be extremely difficult especially with a young family. I was already used to the long hours and stress in the city so that was not an issue.

Working on a frontline ambulance can be very stressful but this is a different type of stress. I am on a night rota so one downfall to this job is being a single responder in the dead of night, not knowing if it is a safe environment when you arrive on scene whilst waiting for backup. However, the advantage of this particular shift rota gives me the opportunity to engage in other ventures outside of work.

Are you involved with other educational institutions other than our year group?
I am very passionate about education and believe every child has the right to good quality education, particularly children with SEN. I am a school governor for a Special Needs School and also a member of the Executive Select Committee for Education for a Local Authority. Within this role, I am the Special Needs Representative for primary and secondary phases in the Borough. It does take up a substantial amount of time but it is all about making a difference to each child’s life, especially the disadvantaged.

Finally, what do you do for relaxation?
As a family, we love being outdoors and my children love swimming. I am an avid sailor and love water sports so I usually spend my vacation camping out in the great outdoors and boating on rivers and lakes, particularly in the Norfolk Broads. I still ride when I get the opportunity but flying remains a passion. I build and fly model aircraft for a hobby and my sons are into drones. I am so grateful these activities give me the opportunity to spend quality time with my family.

Emmanuel Arbenser
Cadbury House.
(The House of Gentlemen)

Look out for our next Spotlight Edition on Sylvester Atta Mensah