From driver to lifesaver: Emily’s inspirational journey highlights the importance, and need, of young drivers

25 year-old Emily Williams, from Bristol, shares how her role as a driver for the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) sees her saving lives on a regular basis, and why she's encouraging other people to follow in her footsteps and explore a career in logistics.

Emily is an ambassador for Generation Logistics, an awareness campaign which has teamed up with NHSBT to encourage more people to consider joining its team of drivers, who are responsible for transporting time-critical blood supplies to hospitals across the country.

With over 250 drivers operating 220 liveried vehicles, NHSBT’s logistics team works 24/7, ensuring that life-saving blood and plasma can reach hospitals and patients when they need them most. Each month, NHSBT drivers can drive the equivalent of 17 times around the equator, or 434,000 miles, safely collecting and delivering precious units of blood and other vital components, including plasma, platelets and stem cells.

Emily's story

Emily standing in front of a blood delivery van As one of these young drivers, Emily began her logistics career as an external courier for Southmead Hospital, in Bristol, where she discovered the importance of medical deliveries. Inspired by an NHS Blood and Transplant driver she spoke with while working around the hospital, she applied for a role and soon joined the team.

After completing her blue light training over the summer, Emily remembers completing her first emergency blood delivery - driving two hours to deliver much-needed blood to a hospital in Dorset, knowing she would be saving a life, or lives, in the process.

Speaking on this delivery, Emily shares: "We were required to run a 2 hour emergency trip over to Dorset for an urgent blood delivery. It was intense, but knowing that my role saved someone’s life is the most rewarding aspect of the job."

NHSBT drivers operate a range of vehicles, from cars to 7.5-tonne lorries, collecting blood from donation sessions, taking it for processing, moving supplies to regional hubs around the country and regular daily deliveries of blood to hospitals across the country. All of this as well as being on standby for emergency or ad-hoc deliveries and any unexpected major incidents, such as the recent incident on the train at Huntingdon.

Emily adds: "I feel proud every time I complete a delivery knowing it could mean the difference between life and death. The support and training I’ve received have made me confident that I’ve found my career for life."

Statement from Paul Taylor

Paul Taylor, Assistant Director for Logistics at NHS Blood and Transplant, comments:

"Last year, our drivers made over 86,000 routine deliveries to hospitals around the country and over 2,000 extra emergency deliveries. Their work is critical to the functioning of the NHS hospitals and patients rely on our drivers ensuring that these vital supplies are collected and safely transported to where they need to be.

"Our drivers are immensely proud to work in a role, where they can truly say they are saving lives everyday. We are proud to support campaigns like Generation Logistics, which are helping to spotlight these roles and aiming to attract a new generation of talent into logistics."

Statement from Bethany Windsor

Bethany Windsor, Programme Director at Generation Logistics, comments:

"It's young people like Emily that are the driving force behind the future of logistics, and it’s so wonderful to have talent that are so passionate and encouraging about their roles.

"Emily's career journey demonstrates the huge impact that logistics has across the country, and the sense of reward that comes hand-in-hand with the job. We hope that other young people will follow in Emily's footsteps, and seriously consider pursuing a career in logistics."

If you would like to find out more information about which career path may best suit you, Generation Logistics' Find Your Future quiz will reveal the ideal area of logistics based on your personality and preferences.

How you can help

Right now, the NHS is calling for people to help fill over 100,000 appointments to give blood between now and Christmas. There is a particular need for more donors with O negative, B negative blood and the RO subtype, as well as more donors of Black heritage to help treat patients with sickle cell.

To book an appointment visit our website.

To find out more about logistics team roles and vacancies at NHS Blood and Transplant, visit our careers website.