Tammy Ryan

Tammy Ryan from Penarth is a Rapid Response Vehicle paramedic based in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan. She has been nominated for her role in saving the life of an elderly lady in May 2013.

Tammy was nearing the end of her shift when a late call came for her to attend to an elderly lady who had fallen at her home in Dinas Powys. It wasn’t a high priority emergency call so Tammy calmly made the short journey from Barry but as she arrived at the house she realised that things were much more serious.

Tammy opened the porch door and was met by a light smell of smoke. As she opened the front door, she could see clouds of smoke building up in the ceiling. She got down on her hands and knees and shouted the lady’s name. She responded and Tammy followed her voice and found her on the kitchen floor. Tammy could see that she had injured her leg and was unable to stand. She could also see the cause of the fire, which was a pan which had caught fire on the cooker. Tammy managed to get her arms underneath her and half lifted her and dragged her out onto the veranda.

Tammy sat the lady on a chair, quickly checked her over and radioed to control for an ambulance and a fire engine. In order to save the house, she went back in to the house, knocked the pan off the cooker with a walking stick, poured water over it, opened the back door and returned to her patient to wait for the ambulance and fire brigade.