Starting as an ambulance officer in 1970, Richard has been part of the road staff team for 47 years, which is a remarkable feat!
His motivation to get involved in ambulance work grew from an early interest in First Aid. He started as a volunteer with the Red Cross and later with Wellington Free, since then the ambulance service has been his whole career.
When Richard started, the job was basically “a glorified First Aid role” he explains. “We had no invasive interventions – not even any pain relief. The only piece of equipment that elevated us, marginally, above a First Aider was a portable oxygen set that was able to administer oxygen and mechanically ventilate a patient,” says Richard. Back then an ambulance officer’s role was mostly to recognise that a patient needed hospital care – and take them there.
Training in the 1970s certainly wasn’t the same as it is now either. The role was so different :“back then we quickly learned all there was to know about ambulance work – because there wasn’t much to know. Later, as we became much better trained and achieved paramedic qualifications we realised how little we actually knew when we first started,” says Richard.
To be a paramedic these days it takes a three-year degree and time on the job before you’re fully qualified. However in Richard’s time at Wellington Free, the organisation and its staff came on leaps and bounds. Wellington Free introduced the Cardiac Care scheme which saw care in a pre-hospital setting – basic resuscitation drugs and defibrillators. “We acquired Entonox, Scoop stretchers; and Bedford ambulances – the start of the vehicle design concept we still have today,” says Richard.
Ambulances in the 1970s were pretty different to what you see on the roads now too. “The most noticeable difference between then and now was that the ambulances had limited height, meaning you had to crouch over to move around in the back,” says Richard.
As well as not being able to stand in the back you couldn’t access the patient compartment from the driver's seat either. “If you needed to check your patient on the journey you would have to stop, get out, go around to the back and through the back doors,” remembers Richard.
The service was pretty small with a total of 28 staff members when Richard started. However, ambulance officers were supported by volunteers, named ‘auxiliaries’ back then. They were able to provide support and an extra pair of hands on evening and weekend shifts before Wellington Free introduced double crewing.
Along with his colleagues Tony and John, who have completed 46 years and 28 years’ service respectively, they all retired at the end of June. They each have a cheeky story or two to tell from their time at Wellington Free but all say the thing they’ve loved the most about the role is the opportunity, and privilege, to help others.
“I like the idea of knowing what to do in an emergency and being able to help when it mattered,” says Richard. The 1970s were a nostalgic time for Richard and he says he misses them. Wellington Free will certainly miss him.
