The family of a boy whose life was saved by the rapid response of a Nantwich volunteer medic has urged ambulance chiefs to reverse their decision to stop him driving to emergencies on blue lights.
Emergency medical technician Gavin Palin took just minutes, driving through the busy Nantwich traffic, to get to three-year-old Matthew Anderson who had suffered a cardiac arrest in a town centre shop.
It happened eight years ago this week, and Gavin managed to get through Saturday traffic on a Halloween weekend because he could use blue lights and a siren.
If the same thing happened today, Gavin’s response would be slower because North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) bosses have stopped him using blue lights when responding to emergencies.
Matthew’s parents have now written to NWAS acting chief executive Salman Desai asking for the blue-lights permission to be reinstated after it was removed last November.
Mum Rebecca, who is a nurse, said: “Matthew, his sister and me were shopping in Nantwich when it happened. He was three and was in a pushchair.
“We went into Home Bargains and I took his hat off because it was really hot, and he was purple, completely unresponsive.
“I took him out the push chair, shouted for help, started resuscitating him, giving him mouth to mouth.
“An out-of-hours GP appeared, who took over compressions. I did mouth-to-mouth.
“Then, out of nowhere, this off-duty paediatric nurse just walked through the door, so she took over mouth-to-mouth so I could be with Matthew’s sister.
“And next minute, Gavin turned up and Max (Max Kelly, an enhanced community first responder) arrived shortly later and Gavin put him on the defibrillator, pressed the button and he screamed the whole place down.
“Without Gavin, and without him coming with the defib and finding that he was in VF (Ventricular fibrillation) and he needed that shock, he wouldn’t be here.
“As much as CPR is good, if you need a defib, you need a defib, and he needed one.”
Matthew’s parents said it is “absolutely ridiculous” that ambulance bosses have taken away Gavin’s permission to drive on blue lights.
Rebecca added: “It was Halloween weekend and it was just crazy busy with traffic.”
Gavin has been with the ambulance service in Nantwich for 23 years and has responded to life-threatening 999 calls on blue lights in the area for the past two decades.
He has been a retained firefighter for 35 years and has driven a fire engine on blue lights for 33 years and continues to do so.
He says he would not have arrived so quickly if he hadn’t had the blue lights to get him through the traffic.
Matthew, now 11, said it was vital ambulance bosses allowed Gavin to drive on blue lights again “because it helped save my life and it’ll probably help save more people like me”.
NWAS says its next resource arrived one minute after Gavin, and then an ambulance and doctor arrived at the scene of this particular incident three minutes after Gavin arrived.
A spokesperson for NWAS said: “The role Gavin played in helping Matthew eight years ago is a clear indication of how the CFR (community first responder) scheme benefits communities, and we’re delighted that it was such a positive outcome.
“However, none of our other 850 CFR volunteers have an exemption to drive under blue lights and operate successfully in rural locations across the north west, offering vital life-saving interventions supporting our emergency ambulance crews.
“We believe the risk posed to drivers and other road users while driving with blue lights is too great to allow our volunteers to do it and is not outweighed by the minor delays they face when responding under normal road conditions.
“Our emergency response operation does not rely on Gavin to volunteer, and we refute claims that the decision is putting lives at risk, not in the least because our 999 response remains unaffected when Gavin isn’t volunteering and is only enhanced when he does.”
Gavin refutes the statement from NWAS he is a CFR and insists he is an emergency medical technician – as displayed on his NWAS ID badge and certificates – which enables him to drive under blue lights and respond to paediatric calls.
“If I was not an EMT, I would not have been able to respond to paediatric calls such as Matthew,” he said.
NWAS is using 999 vehicles from private ambulance operators. It recently took over 7 hours to get my wife to Leighton from Wistaston. The personnel came from Nottingham and Northampton and we’re billeted in hotels or Airbnb. They were efficent at arrival etc. It would be interesting to know if they were allowed blue lights?
Is it too much to hope Mr Naismith, instead of simply parroting the party line to fulfil his MP role, might actually do something palpably positive with a word in Wes Streeting’s ear to ensure NWAS barmy decision is reversed and admirable Mr Palin can respond to emergencies with blue lights maximum urgency/efficiency once again?
we were in doctors and SO had a heart attach dorctors rang for ambulance and told 45 min wait, doctors on had a certain amount of resorces available to help and the doctor said he was cat 1 999 on other hand told the doctor no hes a cat 2 and 45 mins for ambulance he would have been dead! Doctors put a formal complaint and said had a reaponse unit been able to travel on blue lights it would have been helpful this is unacceptable let them use blue lights it saves lives!