Alumni profile - Olivia Herlihy

English with Russian BA, 2003

I joined the London Ambulance Service in 2007 after assisting with a medical emergency outside my home. I realised that a paramedic’s job and a broadcast journalist’s job had many similarities. Both professions had to be skilled at questioning people to find out exactly what happened, they were both fast paced jobs that involved highly emotional scenarios, and both involved being constantly out talking to people. I was good at looking after people and dealing with emergencies, which I hadn’t realised was a skill not all people have.