Meet The Team

Andy Sullivan has over 40 years of practical First Aid experience.

I started my career as an operational Fire-Fighter with Kent Fire and Rescue and served for 17 years. I qualified as a First Aid Instructor in 1994, then in my last few years in the service became Manager of all First Aid training with responsibility for 2000 Firefighters. While in this role I worked closely with the Ambulance, Air Ambulance and Police services on a successful initiative to improve inter-service collaboration.

In 2004, I moved on to become an NHS Resuscitation Officer and developed new skills in teaching and Advanced Life Support – a role that gave me extensive knowledge and hands-on experience in advanced care.

Now with 26 years of hands-on experience and knowledge under my belt, I created the Emergency Life Support Team – of which I am proud to be the Director.

Since developing ELST in 2004, I have had the privilege of a number of voluntary roles – serving as a Community First Responder for the Ambulance Service and Coast Guard Rescue Officer with HM Coastguard. In 2020 I joined RE:ACT – a disaster response charity – and found myself working in an Intensive Care Unit assisting medical staff with COVID patients, an experience that was both educational and humbling.

In my experience, knowing First Aid truly makes the difference between life and death and I believe that everybody, young and old, should have at least the basic skills and confidence to save a life – which is my aim through ELST.

The most rewarding part of my spare time is creating lasting memories with my children: going on great adventures and enjoying those wonderfully daft moments. I’m documenting these times as I try to learn to be a better photographer and videographer.

Best Wishes, and thank you for visiting our website.

Andy Sullivan

I started as a weekend First Aider with St John Ambulance at Brands Hatch in 1977, then trained as Registered Nurse from 1982, adding RN in California in 2003 then HCPC Paramedic in 2005. 

I Nursed in Medical, ITU, Recovery / Anaesthetics, covered as A+E Manager while working 7 years as Resuscitation Officer, then moved to Kent Air Ambulance in 2000 where I worked on helicopter shifts, equipment procurement and set up initial training for new Doctors and Paramedics.

I spent time in Ambulance 999 control as Clinical Supervisor, then trained Paramedics in Adult + Paediatric Advanced Life Support for 5 years.

I saw out my last 2 years training Covid staff before retiring in 2022, but I have run or assisted teaching First Aid since the 1980’s.

I’ve known Andy, the CEO of ELST, since around 1996. It’s been a genuine pleasure to work with him for nearly three decades, and I’m fortunate to count him not just as a work colleague but as a dear friend.

I am currently undertaking advanced driving with ROSPA, a teaching qualification and getting to tour as much of Great Britain as I can.

Having spent just under 7 years serving in the Royal Air Force and 30 years in the Police Force I have observed and used First Aid on many occasions.

Knowledge of First Aid promotes a healthy, secure and a safer environment, and instils confidence amongst people, their families, their colleagues and associates.

Here at Emergency Life Support Team, we aim to, not only to share our wealth of Emergency Service experience , but to deliver a dynamic no nonsense reality course that will give you confidence to administer first aid.

With extensive experience in the emergency services, I’ve worked in high‑pressure situations where first‑aid interventions are required quickly and often with minimal resources. Alongside this, I have also worked in secondary and higher‑education settings, and led expeditions across the UK, primarily for young people completing their Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

I’m passionate about empowering people to remain calm under pressure, manage their emotional responses, and deliver the best possible care when it matters most. I pride myself on delivering engaging, relevant, and practical first aid training based on the most up to date evidence available.

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