City centre paramedic is still saving lives... despite the violence and abuse
Paramedic cyclists get to city emergencies first but that can put them in danger
MANCHESTER should be very grateful to have Ian Shortman.
Come rain or shine, 24 hours a day, he is one of only two cyclist response paramedics for the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) based in the city centre.
Standing 6ft 6in tall, and usually clad in a bright yellow uniform, he is hard to miss.
Unlike a traditional ambulance, the bikes won’t get held up by traffic or narrow streets and so if there’s an emergency, they will be there in a matter of seconds.
They can get to places even motorbike ambulances can’t, such as railway stations.
Consequently, Ian and his colleague Andrew are often the first member of the emergency services at an incident.
Their ability to respond so quickly can be the difference between life and death.
It also saves NWAS a huge amount of time and money as Ian and Andrew can immediately assess whether an incident requires further resource or not.
It is believed the two cyclist paramedics save around 800 ambulances being sent to Manchester city centre every year.
In that context, the idea that anyone would want to attack Ian or Andrew seems inconceivable. And yet, tragically, that is exactly what happened.
On the weekend before Christmas, Ian was treating a patient near Manchester Central when he was the victim of a vicious assault.
He was kneeling down on the pavement, when an attacker kicked him in the head with such force he was thrown into the road.
A man was detained at the scene by members of the public and nearby security staff and arrested.
It is understood the Crown Prosecution Service is currently deciding whether to bring charges.
Speaking to the M.E.N. a month later, Ian has fortunately made a full recovery.
He told us how, though violent abuse has become a regular problem, it won’t keep him from a job he’s loved for more than 14 years.
On the night of the attack, Ian was rushed to hospital where doctors carried out a CT scan fearing a possible bleed on the brain.
Thankfully, no permanent damage was discovered, although he suffered dizziness and headaches for several weeks.
But it has been a harrowing experience for Ian and his loved ones regardless.
His partner Vivienne Bowden happens to be an NWAS dispatcher, and had sent Ian to the scene where he was attacked.
“She heard it all [on the radio],” said Ian, 53. “She was obviously upset.
“They took her out of the room [in the dispatch centre] so she could concentrate on what was important to her and not make a mistake.
“She’s happy that I’m not letting it effect me. Unfortunately it’s part of life now, it’s so, so sad. We’re always being kicked, punched, spat on. I would say it’s a weekly occurrence.
“It’s not all about drugs and alcohol, I think a lot of it is people are genuinely more angry these days... respect is just a thing of the past.” Ian was one of 16 NWAS staff who joined as trainee cyclist response paramedics in 2006 - but he and Andrew are the only two left.
“Most people do not like the aggression, they do not like the violence, they don’t like dealing with constant drugs and alcohol, and the other thing, sadly for Manchester, is the rain,” he said. “However, the
Pennines you can’t change!”
Despite the sadly all-toofrequent abuse, Ian still loves his job and will not let the attack he suffered change that.
“I genuinely love the job,” he said. “The last time I was off sick was 15 years ago!” A Salford boy, Ian’s first obsession was cars and he trained to be a mechanic before joining the service after being trained in first aid.
During 14 years of cycling around Manchester city centre, Ian has seen a dramatic transformation.
“The biggest change I think has been the homeless population,” he said. When we started you probably had half a dozen hardcore homeless for various reasons.
“And now you only have to walk around any city, not just Manchester, and the homeless population has increased massively.
“It is difficult, we get a lot of calls passed to us by police, members of the public will ring up asking for people to be moved on from doorways and the police will deem it a medical emergency, so we get sent to them. “One of the nicknames we’ve been given in the city is ‘the Spice Alarm Clock’ because we just go round waking everyone up! “Most of these people are friendly with us, they’ve got used to it, we’re not there to cause them any problems, we’re just there to check they’re alive and well.
When the M.E.N. first reported on Ian’s attack, we received an avalanche of responses expressing outrage and best wishes for a wellknown and highly-regarded figure in the city centre.
Although he doesn’t do social media, he has been shown the comments and it meant a lot to him.
“The support has been genuinely humbling,” he said.
“When I saw the comments [on the M.E.N. story], there was a tear rolling down my cheek. I genuinely hope that would be the same for all emergency services, even if it had been someone else, the fire service, a nurse, they are all crucial, there’s nothing special about me, I’m just the paramedic in the city.”
We’re always being kicked, punched, spat on. I would say it’s a weekly occurrence Ian Shortman NWAS cyclist responder