http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/10/01/183381_ntnews.html

Speedy ambo has keys taken away

SARAH CRAWFORD

October 1st, 2010

 Warren Purse

AN INTENSIVE care paramedic has been banned from driving to emergencies after he was caught speeding while rushing to save a man having a heart-attack.

Warren Purse was clocked by a fixed speed camera doing more than 90 km/h at the corner of Trower and Rapid Creek roads.

On August 20 he got a call that a man had fallen from a boat in Darwin Harbour and was in cardiac arrest.

He tried for 30 minutes to resuscitate the man but he died.

Since then he has been banned from driving with lights and sirens and must be accompanied on emergency call outs.

The St John Ambulance officer has copped the three-month ban on the chin.

"I am the one that broke St John Ambulance policy - I should not have been speeding. I can't comment on this. You will need to speak to (deputy operations manager) Craig Garraway," he said. Mr Garraway said ambulance drivers were allowed to do 20 km/h over the speed limit when called to an emergency.

Any more than that and ambos are suspended - and they could get stuck with the speeding fine as well.

"We are allowed to break the road rules as long as it is safe to do so, that includes going through red lights and stop signs," Mr Garraway said.

St John Ambulance receives about two speeding tickets a week after ambulance drivers are caught by police cameras.

"Nine out of ten times they are speeding within the confines of the policy," Mr Garraway said.

He said ambulance response times were not compromised by the speeding policy.

"They could get there an extra 15 to 20 seconds quicker at the end of the day."

Mr Purse is now working as a patient transfer officer.

He will be back on the road as a solo advanced care paramedic on October 25.
 

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Title
Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Email
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (registered users only)
	Add Comment Preview