Former army paramedic invents mental health app

Dave Swann served on the front line as a medic and admitted he "bottled up" how he was feeling

A former army paramedic from Hereford is leading a campaign to improve people's mental health in the workplace.

Dave Swann served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia for the Royal Army Medical Corps over a 23 year career.

The veteran, who has battled his own mental health problems, has now launched Our Pulse, an app designed to help monitor the wellbeing of employees.

He said: "We want people to think about mental health, we want to promote discussion in the workplace."

Mr Swann said he had family, friends and work colleagues who had either taken their own life or attempted to.

While on the front line, he said he saw a lot of traumatic sights which led to him "bottling up" his emotions in order to carry out his duty.

"It is a bit of a ticking time bomb inside your body," he said.

Mr Swann told BBC Hereford & Worcester that he believed his new app had the potential to the save the lives of those using it.

He explained: "We need to look after ourselves a lot more.

"The more we promote discussions about poor mental health, the more people will discuss it, the more people will get help and the more people will be saved."

The app works by asking users to fill in a survey each week about how they are feeling at work.

That data is then fed back to the employer anonymously so they have an idea of how their employees are coping.

There is then an option for the user to talk to the company's mental health lead if they wish.

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]