A former paramedic who worked from Park Royal and trained at Central Middlesex Hospital has marked 50 years with the London Ambulance Service.
Noel Thomas, 67, joined the service as a 17-year-old cadet in 1976 and went on to work from Park Royal, Willesden, Wembley and Brent.
Mr Thomas completed an intubation and infusion course at Central Middlesex Hospital before training as a paramedic at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.
Recalling how ambulance work has changed, Mr Thomas said: “When we received jobs, we answered the phones at our stations and were given a map reference with the location of the patient. Ambulances did not have sat nav – we had to rely on reading maps.”
He said crews at the time largely focused on getting patients to hospital as quickly as possible, compared with the more advanced treatment now provided at the scene.
Mr Thomas, who particularly remembers delivering babies during his frontline career, spent more than 30 years working alongside crewmate Christine Money.
He retired in 2016 but returned to London Ambulance Service in 2019 and now works as a technician preparing ambulances for crews.
Mr Thomas was presented with a long-service certificate by London Ambulance Service chief executive Jason Killens at its Waterloo headquarters.
