13th June 2025
Huge Congratulations to Jeff McClure, recently retired from NIAS, on receiving an OBE, for services to Emergency Planning, in The King’s Birthday Honours list.
Jeff has worked for 40 years in a variety of roles with the Ambulance Service but for the past fifteen he has specialised in the field of Emergency Planning. He has a clear passion for enhancing planning and preparation for worst case scenarios, and has been heavily involved in the delivery of training to staff across the health service and partner agencies on the management of major incidents.
Jeff was key in developing a new nationally-approved course on the hospital aspects of response to a major incident where previously the focus had been on the pre-hospital phase. This was in recognition that a whole-system approach is necessary in order obtain the best outcomes for casualties of a large-scale or mass-casualty incident. October he led the delivery of the first of the new Major Incident Medical Management (MIMMS) courses to take on board some of the key lessons arising from the Manchester Arena Inquiry. He fully adopted the ethos of partnership working and as a result has garnered the respect of those working across the hospital sector as well as colleagues in the police, fire and rescue and coastguard services as well as those responsible for emergency preparedness in our Department of Health.
Jeff has been key to planning for many very high profile events including the 2012 UK Summer Olympics, the G8 summit held in County Fermanagh, and most recently the ambulance planning surrounding Operation London Bridge and Operation Shamrock following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He regularly oversees health service planning for large scale events in Northern Ireland such as the NorthWest 200 races where is calm and methodical approach ensures that all parties are able to co-operate to the greatest extent.
In recent months, Jeff has taken on additional extra responsibilities in leading the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service due to temporary absence within the department, and has shown dedication to undertaking a full review of preparedness and resilience arrangements across the organisation.
Above all, Jeff remains incredibly modest and humble, never failing to credit others for the work to which he has contributed so strongly, and continues to exhibit understanding and compassion in all his dealings with colleagues and patients alike.