Date published: 19 November 2018

Three members of staff from Grimsby Ambulance Station have been shortlisted for ‘Paramedic/First Responder of the year’ category at the Lincolnshire Media Health Awards.

Paramedic Steve Pratten, Technician Nick Stuffin and recently retired Paramedic Mally Ross were nominated for their dedication to patient care, creating safer communities and going above and beyond to save lives.

Technician Nick’s nomination read: “Nick has worked for the ambulance service for over six years, joining as an Emergency Care Assistant before progressing to Trainee Technician. After qualifying, and with his credible aspirations, he has now been accepted onto his paramedic degree course, starting in January 2019.

“Working on our frontline he is a credit to the organisation, often receiving compliments for his care, with his most recent being for delivering new life into the world.

“Outside of work, Nick’s passion for saving lives and helping others doesn’t stop. He volunteers his personal time as a responder for Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service (LIVES), often being the vital minutes needed to save a patient’s life.

“So far, this year Nick has attended over 70 incidents in Grimsby and Cleethorpes on a voluntary basis, with over 80% being our immediately life-threatening calls. These have included a house fire, hangings and stabbings, often putting himself in dangerous situations to save others.

“Alongside volunteering for LIVES, Nick volunteers as Special Constable and is part of the Joint Special Operations Unit for Humberside Police force.”

Paramedic Steve Pratten’s nomination read: “Steve has worked for the ambulance service for over 24 years and has made outstanding contributions to the local communities across Lincolnshire.

“He is passionate about Community Public Access Defibrillators (CPAD’s), making them accessible for the public and increasing out of hospital cardiac arrest survival rates. He has helped place over 300 defibrillators across Lincolnshire and worked with local charities to ensure there are defibrillators along the Cleethorpes sea front and coastline, every 500m, in case somebody suffers a cardiac arrest.

“Steve is dedicated and passionate about saving lives and has made valuable contributions to patients and communities across Lincolnshire, which will continue to have an impact for years to come. “

Paramedic Mally Ross’ nomination read: “Mally has worked for the ambulance service for over 44 years on the frontline of Lincolnshire.

“He started his ambulance career in 1974 working at Scunthorpe Station, and progressed into management roles, including working as a Station Officer at Grimsby Station. He ended his career as a paramedic on our frontline.

“During his career he has mentored and helped to progress many of our new clinicians and provided a listening ear for his colleagues when they needed it the most.

“Over his 44 years of service he has delivered new lives into this world, sharing some of the happiest moments with his patients, provided compassionate care for those in their final hours and saved the lives of many others. One of those lives wasCleethorpes Chronicle reporter, Vince McDonagh, when he suffered a cardiac arrest while at work.  Mally treated Vince on the way to Castle Hill Hospital, where he received bypass surgery. Following Vince’s recovery, along with his colleagues, they raised money for a community public access defibrillator to go outside their newspapers premises in Cleethorpes. Mally was invited to be reunited with Vince who could not praise him enough.

“The impact Mally has had on the communities he has served cannot be measured.”

Finalists have been invited to attend a ceremony on Tuesday 20 November at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Lincoln.

You can follow the ceremony on Twitter by using the #LincsHealthAwards.

More information about all of the finalists can be read on Lincolnshire Live.