Honoured St John Ambulance volunteer wants to ‘shine light’ on organisation

Adrian Petticrew, 53, from Banbridge, Co Down, has been involved with the charity since he was 10, carrying on from his father and grandfather.

But this year saw the biggest challenge yet, co-ordinating St John resources with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) through the pandemic.

He described being made an OBE in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list as one of a number recognised for their contribution as a shock.

“I was just performing the role I do within St John, a very very pleasant surprise,” he told the PA news agency.

Mr Petticrew is the regional NHS liaison officer for St John Ambulance.

“We went from providing about 20 crews a week during a typical February to at one stage during April and May giving them 80-90 crews a week,” he said.

“From the end of February to the end of July we mobilised almost 1,300 crews, two people on every crew and a minimum of eight-hour shifts so it’s a substantial commitment to support the people of Northern Ireland and the health service.

“And all our crews, including me, are volunteers doing this alongside paid employment.”

He described the “massive ramp up” of activity as the NIAS came under intense pressure.

“Everything slowed up during Covid – you can only move one patient at a time, and whilst we would always clean the vehicle after any patient, because of the risk with the virus enhanced cleaning is required which can take up to an hour,” he said.

“All the crew have to wear personal protective equipment, putting it on to go into the house, take it off to drive, put it on to go into the hospital, then more PPE to clean the vehicle. Hospitals had to cut capacity in A&E departments so the ambulances were increasingly tied up waiting at hospitals.

“Then the Ambulance Service had members who were self isolating because of medical conditions and others who had been exposed.

“It was a very complex picture. A lot of the service had to be repurposed as people were getting transferred longer distances, and we were doing some of the NIAS routine work, such as taking renal patients in for regular treatment, to free up services for emergencies.”

Mr Petticrew was also involved in sourcing PPE stock, training volunteers, as well as providing reassurance in unsettling times.

“I’ve been in St John since I was 10, I thought I’d seen most things, but nothing like this. However it’s also been very rewarding, we had to hit the ground running and I feel as an organisation we did that and made a substantial impact,” he said.

The Co Down man described his proudest moment when his own unit from Kennedy Way were tasked to repurpose six vehicles to transport ventilated patients to the Nightingale facility at the City Hospital.

“On the Friday morning we were tasked to come up with a plan and to be ready to assist. By Monday evening we had a full orientation, vehicles prepped and training done, ready to go,” he said.

“Thankfully we were so lucky that the big expected peak didn’t come in April, they were not swamped as they had expected to be.”

Mr Petticrew said as he was told of his OBE he thought of a colleague in Wales, Gerallt Davies, who died with Covid-19 in April, months after being honoured with an MBE.

“I feel very humble about the whole thing, I see people working in ICU departments coming out with the red marks on their face from the masks,” he said.

“I stood at my door clapping and cheering for the NHS every week.”

He added of St John Ambulance: “I am one person, it is a great organisation and I am keen that everybody gets credit for what they did. That’s what I want to shine a light on.”