Scotland's first paramedic returns to help Covid response
- Published
Scotland's first trained paramedic has come out of retirement to help with the response to coronavirus.
Bill Mason, 64, is supervising mobile testing units with the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Mr Mason qualified in 1986, after he was selected to represent Scotland as part of a group of 10 paramedics trained in Surrey.
He went on to work and train other paramedics in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee before retiring in 2011.
Mr Mason, who now lives in Kirkcaldy, Fife, said he wanted to do his part during the pandemic.
He said: "I volunteered to help and was signed up to work as a supervisor with the mobile testing units.
"I have made the commitment to stay until things improve and get back to some kind of normality.
"It is an important job on the front line. We we all want to help our fellow Scots and contribute to the health and wellbeing of Scotland."
Bill Mason trained as a paramedic in the 1980s
This month marks 50 years since the first six Paramedics in the UK began their work in Brighton, in March 1971.
Before this, ambulances were mainly regarded as transport to hospital and provided limited first aid.
A training programme was extended across the UK in 1979.
Mr Mason recalls that in the 1980s, some in the medical profession were unused to the role of a paramedic.
Loading an ambulance with equipment in 1989
He said: "It also took a wee while to build the trust of other medical and nursing practitioners facing this new breed of ambulance person. The vast majority were very helpful and encouraging.
"It was very rewarding to us to see patients improve more rapidly than before and to know that you have made a major contribution to their lives.
"One of the scarier moments was using a manual defibrillator, but it also brought great joy when a person was successfully resuscitated - knowing that it was unlikely they would have been saved without those paramedic skills and 'new' equipment."
Pat O'Meara, general manager of the Scottish Ambulance Service, said Mr Mason brought "invaluable" knowledge to the job.
He said: "His decision to come out of retirement to work as a supervisor for our mobile testing units is testament to his dedication.
"Several of our retired colleagues have chosen to work on MTUs to support our response to the pandemic.
"Their skills and knowledge are invaluable in the fight against Covid-19."
