Cheshire East councillors appeared bemused after quizzing North West Ambulance Service bosses over why an experienced life-saving volunteer medic has been stopped from driving to emergencies on blue lights, writes Belinda Ryan.
Gavin Palin has been with the ambulance service in Nantwich for 23 years and has responded to life-threatening calls, such as cardiac arrests, on blue lights 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.
A year ago, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) stopped him driving on blue lights.
Mr Palin, who is an emergency medical technician 1, explained his position to councillors at the Cheshire East Council scrutiny committee.
And when NWAS representatives appeared at the meeting later, area director Ian Moses told councillors: “There are 850 community responders in the North West, none of whom drive on blue lights, other than the Nantwich responder.
“The Nantwich scheme is the only one we’re aware of nationally where that permission [blue light driving] has been previously enabled.”
Committee chair Liz Wardlaw (Con) said she understood the NWAS chief executive was due to meet with Crewe and Nantwich MP Connor Naismith at a later date about the matter, so the representatives at the committee may not wish to answer the questions.
But she said she had been asked by Mr Palin to ask why blue light permissions would be removed from an emergency medical technician if that person provided evidence they held all the required qualifications to meet the NWAS requirements for blue light permissions.
Former council leader Sam Corcoran (Sandbach, Lab) said: “Leaving the issue of Mr Palin aside, so if somebody had done the appropriate qualifications, they would be allowed to drive under blue lights?”
Mr Moses said: “No. There are no first responders in the North West, regardless of whether they’ve got qualifications or not, who drive on blue lights, other than Mr Palin.”
Cllr Corcoran persisted, saying: “The question is, why not?
“Why can a first responder who has done that [blue light] training, not be allowed to drive under blue lights?”
Mr Moses replied: “The training delivered at a certain point in time and recognised at a point in time, may have changed and therefore no longer be recognised.”
At this stage Cllr Corcoran was shaking his head and other councillors were looking at each other.
Cllr Wardlaw said: “The generic question around, with appropriate training should a person be able to do whatever that training enables them to do, seems rather curiously unmet here.
“So, if I’m trained to stick a sticking plaster on, and forbidden from sticking a sticking plaster on, it’s a bit perverse in doing the training really, isn’t it?
“I think that’s the loop that we’re stuck in here at the moment.
“I think it’s a question that this committee is intrigued to hear the answer to, but we do understand that we’re not going to hear that answer here today.”
(Pic: Gavin Palin with family of young boy he saved in an emergency)
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