Where did your business idea come from?  

Back in the early 90’s we saw an ever increasing awareness and need for Health and Safety support services, driven by legislation in 1989. In 1995, we started off doing First Aid training and what prompted us to continue, and know that we were doing something right, was when a participant on a course came to Niall, proudly holding his certificate saying “I’m 63 years of age and this is the first piece of paper I have ever received telling me I’m worth something”. We knew our pathway was mapped out, as we realised we had not just taught important skills, but we had nurtured the human spirit. As they say………..the rest is history!

What do you think has been your biggest achievement with the business?  

It’s very hard to nail down a “biggest” achievement because we have had many great achievements – some difficult to quantify. I do think we have achieved the ultimate, which is, saving someone’s life. We have had a number of clients coming back to us saying “Thank you for providing our First Aid training and our AED Machine because we had to use it and, thankfully, we saved the person’s life”. We also know that the Health & Safety advice and support we give has prevented serious injury and, maybe, saved some lives, over the years. Our aim, for our clients, is to ensure that their employees get home each day – safe and healthy. So you could say “we save lives and we improve lives”.

What’s next for EMS & Associates and the business in Drogheda? 

We want to continue to grow our business in Drogheda and provide Health and Safety consultancy, auditing and training for more local businesses. Since Covid 19 has struck we have assisted many local businesses reopen through writing their C19 Return to Work Safely Protocols. We are all very conscious of supporting local, which we already do, so we would like to see more businesses engaging with us to provide Health & Safety consultancy services.

As a QQI Provider, we intend to offer more Health & Safety award courses, to meet the need for accredited training in the industry. This will mean that local businesses can source local training, to meet their needs.

Tell us something people might not know about your Company.

We were in business 25 years on 1st of April this year and we are proud to say we have customers that are still with us since the early days. We are, also, the only private PHECC (Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council) Approved Training Institution in the Drogheda area. This means we can offer joint accreditation (PHECC/EMS) for First Aid Responder and Cardiac First Responder, so people are guaranteed they are getting training that is meeting the national standard and they will be certified to that standard by us.

What is the best piece of business advice you’ve ever been given?

“Aim for 1% improvement, every day”. (Kaizen principle of continuous improvement). We all want to make radical changes and make them now but the small improvements, each day, add up and that’s what brings about change. These changes lead to you achieving the goals you set for your business.