Care Assistants receive award

Patient Transport Service Care Assistants, Alan Davey and John Taylor

The great and the good at the North West Ambulance Service were honoured at the Trust’s Award Ceremony, and Patient Transport Service Care Assistants, Alan Davey and John Taylor, were two of the lucky winners.

The ceremony took place at Ribby Hall Village on Wednesday 18 April 2012 with approximately 180 staff members from the North West Ambulance Service in attendance. It was hosted by BBC Radio presenter Neil Newton.

This was the second regional event which focused on peer nominated awards and special commendations, as well as recognising the contributions made by volunteer and partner agencies.

Alan and John jointly won the title of ‘Frontline Staff Member of the Year –Patient Transport Service’ after being nominated by Customer Support Manager Catherine Morrison for their exceptional conduct in dealing with a distressed parent who mistakenly took their vehicle to be an emergency ambulance.

The pair, who were about to collect a patient for a hospital appointment, were approached by the gentleman who was holding his unresponsive child. The frantic father had already dialed 999 to request assistance, but after seeing the patient transport vehicle pull up four doors away, he ran out with the child.

On opening the rear door, John was faced with having to react to the time critical situation and immediately took the child and put him on the stretcher. The Rapid Response Paramedic had now arrived at the scene and instructed John to cut off the boy’s top, whilst Alan ran to the emergency vehicle to get the defibrillator. John was then instructed to perform chest compressions. All three worked together to give the child the best chance of survival.

John from Rochdale, a patient transport Care Assistant for over 19 years, said ‘We didn’t have time to think about the situation we were in, we just had at act fast and did what we could to assist the paramedic. Adrenaline was definitely pumping. We also had to bear in mind we already had a patient on board, who observed the whole thing, but she was fine.

‘Once the emergency ambulance had left with the young boy and his father, we had to then knock on our patient’s door, who was oblivious as to what had just happened on his doorstep.”

Alan, who lives in Rossendale and has worked for the North West Ambulance Service for just over three years, modestly said ‘We did what we could, but I’m sure any of our colleagues would have done the same. This is not the first time this has happened to us, a few years ago we had a patient collapse of our vehicle and we had to render aid until the paramedics arrived.’

Both John and Alan were delighted to have won the award, which consisted of a day at the races, an official NWAS engraved shield plus a certificate.

Chief Executive at NWAS, Darren Hurrell said: “The evening was a great success and the number of staff recognised for their outstanding contribution was remarkable. It also further demonstrated the dedication our staff give to the patients and communities they serve.

“Some of the actions of we heard about were truly heroic and heart-warming and it really is an honour to be leading an organisation which has so many dedicated and hard-working individuals.”

The awards ceremony was funded by kind donations from the following sponsors; Physio-Control, Ferno, and CME Medical.