Paramedic treating patient has 999 vehicle slapped with parking fine

A PARAMEDIC was hit with a parking fine by a traffic warden while she was treating a patient.

The Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) was parked in Bargates, Christchurch, on Tuesday when a Dorset County Council civil enforcement officer (CEO) issued the penalty notice.

The paramedic had been treating a patient and returned to the vehicle carrying all her kit as the ticket was being issued even though on-duty emergency services are exempt.

On social media the recipient posted: “Was on a job, came out and he was issuing a ticket. I said ‘what’s that for?’ He said: ‘If you were on a shout I wouldn’t give it’.

“I literally had just come out of a place with all my bags and equipment on. I said: ‘I don’t carry this around for fun’.

“He said ‘you’ll have to dispute it’.”

The post was shared on social media and Dorset County Council then tweeted: “Having investigated the incident this ticket has now been cancelled.”

But members of the public were outraged and the Emergency Services News site publicly lambasted the council and CEO, saying: “As the recipient of the ticket pointed out to the CEO when she found the ticket on her emergency vehicle, she had all of her life-saving gear with her!

“So anyone with an ounce of common sense, decency and intelligence would therefore understand that the emergency vehicle had been sent to deal with an emergency!”

A DCC spokesperson said: “The Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) issued the ticket after noticing that the vehicle hadn’t moved for around 30 minutes and was unable to locate the driver. However, when the medic returned it became clear she was on duty, would therefore be exempt and was informed as such by the officer.

“CEOs cannot cancel tickets themselves once issued, but as soon as the full circumstances were established back at the office we were happy to immediately cancel the ticket.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”