A security guard who posed as a paramedic at a music and sporting event when he gave wrong advice about treating patients has been jailed for two years.
In one case Paul Atkinson claimed that a monitor reading for a 12-year-old girl who had fallen unconscious were normal, when they were not.
Atkinson committed the offences in 2015 but then went on the run for three years after failing to appear before magistrates.
The 32-year-old, of Harbury Road, Balsall Heath, had previously admitted two charges of fraud and two of failing to answer to bail.
Birmingham Crown Court
(Image: BirminghamLive)
Birmingham Crown Court was told that the defendant had never had any medical training. But he had told others that he was “practically a paramedic” and had enrolled at university and was awaiting registration.
From the beginning of 2015 he had enrolled in an organisation known as Central Rescue.
But he aroused suspicion on one occasion when he sought to assist a man who had broken his foot.
And at a training session with Central Rescue it became apparent Atkinson did not know what he was doing, said Harpreet Sandhu, prosecuting.
He was dismissed but then began working at a nightclub where he wore a jacket with ‘Medic’ written on the back of it. It was there that he told a student paramedic that he was a paramedic employed by West Midlands Ambulance Service.
But the court heard when he was called to see to a woman who needed medical attention he was ‘clueless’.
Atkinson also tried to join a company which provided first aid training and medically trained staff for events but failed after failing to provide evidence of his qualifications.
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Nevertheless on June 17 he turned up with legitimate paramedics at a large music event in Southall Park and was paid £900.
“He arrived at the event in what purported to be a paramedic’s uniform but was noted to look dishevelled,” said Mr Sandhu.
“Throughout the event he held himself out to be a paramedic including to a police officer.”
At one point a 12-year-old girl collapsed after being crushed against the barriers and was unconscious.
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The child was taken into the back of an ambulance but when Atkinson was given equipment by another paramedic it was clear he did not know how to use it.
When an ECG reading was taken it was clear to other paramedics that the reading was abnormal but the defendant insisted it was normal.
On the basis of the correct reading, though, the girl was taken to hospital.
Mr Sandhu said about a month later Atkinson also attended the Rugby half marathon in full paramedic uniform.
At that event it again became apparent that he was unaware of matters which basic paramedic training would have provided him with knowledge of.
During the marathon there were many casualties who needed treatment and Atkinson tended to two, checking blood pressure and taking a blood sample.
However, when told that one of them needed to be put on a drip he falsely advised against this, claiming the patient needed to be taken to hospital to have this done.
Atkinson, who billed £400 for services, was arrested on July 19. When his home was searched a uniform with ‘Ambulance’ written on it was recovered.
In passing sentence Judge Mark Wall QC said the fraud offences were “bizarre in nature” and added: “You had no medical training but held yourself out over a protracted period to be a paramedic.”
He said that fortunately there were other trained people around and continued: “Had you been left to your own devices it is impossible to know what harm there would have come to those people.”
The judge also said there was an element of sophistication involved in obtaining the uniform and that he had created a real risk of causing injury or harm.
