Congratulations to paramedic Greg Martin who has received the Chief Ambulance Officer’s Recognition of Performance Award for his life-saving actions.

Earlier this year, Greg was off-duty, when a 999 call was made for a patient who was choking in a nearby restaurant. Greg volunteers as Community First Responder, so he was alerted to the incident by the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre and because he was just around the corner he was on scene within minutes. Greg was able to use his paramedic skills to clear the blockage and secure the patient’s airway, before starting ventilations all before the arrival of the ambulance.

Guernsey’s Chief Ambulance Officer, Mark Mapp said: “Greg acted promptly and professionally and his actions on that day saved the patient’s life”.  The award was presented to Greg by the Chairman of St John Ambulance & Rescue Service, Marc Farror.

Greg joined Guernsey’s ambulance service in 2014, initially working on the Patient Transfer Service. He then moved to the emergency ambulance service and qualified as a paramedic in 2020. He volunteers as one of the islands Community First Responders, who are alerted to immediately life-threatening cases in their vicinity and are trained and equipped to provide life-saving treatment in the minutes before an ambulance arrives. When a patient is choking, the blockage can cause them to stop breathing and without prompt intervention this can lead to a cardiac arrest.

Although paramedics and Community Fist Responders have additional skills and training, members of the public can give first aid for someone who is choking, by encouraging the casualty to cough and if the patient cannot clear the object themselves the first aider can lean the casualty forward and give up to five back blows between the shoulder blades. If this is unsuccessful, the first aider can give up to five abdominal thrusts. If a casualty is choking it is also important to dial 999 and be prepared to start CPR if they become unresponsive.

To find out more about first aid training in Guernsey click  https://stjohntraining.gg/