Off-duty trentbarton driver Ivan Smith has been praised for his actions after using a bus as an ambulance to take an injured and bleeding man to hospital after he fell in Belper.
Ivan, who drives the sixes and sevens from Belper, was the first person on Campbell Street who went to the elderly man’s aid. Also nearby last Friday was Dr Mac Thacker, consultant osteomyologist at the Belper Backpain Clinic.
Dr Thacker said: “Ivan did a great job. I heard that a man had fallen and was bleeding from his head. When I got there someone had already called for an ambulance. We kept him warm with blankets from the vet on Campbell Street. “Because an ambulance did not arrive I called them again but they could not give an estimated time of arrival. Meanwhile, the poor chap was getting colder and confused. “I thought the situation was getting serious and was potentially an emergency. I couldn’t be sure where the bleeding was coming from so I thought it was important to get him to hospital. “And then Ivan said he could borrow a bus to take him to hospital. Ivan couldn’t drive and also look after him so I went with them. When we got to A&E I got a wheelchair and he was taken in. Ivan deserves congratulating for his resourcefulness.”
Ivan, 52, who lives in Belper, said: “It was the end of a normal working day and I was just walking to the car park when I saw the chap lying on the floor asking for help. He was bleeding and I’m a bit phobic about blood but had to overcome that.
“I gave my phone to another man to call for an ambulance. I got a child’s booster seat from my car to prop his head up. After the doctor couldn’t get an answer as to when an ambulance would arrive I said I could take him on a bus. “I went to the Belper depot and there was a sevens bus that was being cleaned. I chucked the cleaner off and said I’d bring the bus back later. Ivan, who has been driving buses for trentbarton since 2009, added: “We drove to the hospital and pulled up in an ambulance bay so the chap could be taken in with a wheelchair and he was admitted. trentbarton drivers help people in lots of ways but that’s the first time I’ve had to double up as an ambulance.”
Tom Morgan, director of service delivery at trentbarton, said: “Our drivers are trained to use their initiative and encouraged to act to help anyone in need. Even off duty, Ivan more than lived up to that ideal and deserves great credit for his actions.”