Paramedic returns to base after 12-hour shift to discover car has been vandalised
A paramedic returned from a 12-hour night shift to find her car had been vandalised in the Newark Ambulance Station carpark.
Miss Tracey Smith had pulled into base, on Queens Road, at around 6am on Saturday morning when she noticed damage to her vehicle.
The 41-year-old, who has worked out of Newark for 15 of her 16 years in the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS), had commuted to the town in her custom Ford Tourneo van as her regular vehicle was being repaired.
Vandals ripped off two wingmirrors from the Ford Tourneo, the side trims and a rear windscreen wiper. No other vehicles were damaged.
“It’s my pride and joy and I love it to bits,” said Miss Smith.
“Nothing like this has happened to me before.
“Everybody at the station was very angry – perhaps even angrier than me because I was in shock.
“I had to return to work the next day for the vehicle to be recovered so by the time I got home I had not slept for 24 hours. The next day I was like a zombie.
“I don’t even know whether I want to take that car to work now. Every time I’ll leave it there, I’ll be on edge.
“It has put the kibosh on plans for this weekend with family. You don’t really how much you rely on the vehicle until something happens to it.”
The ambulance station does not have CCTV, and Miss Smith was told that the nearby Newark Police Station’s CCTV only covers their entrance.
Nottinghamshire Police has been contacted for comment.
Miss Smith’s job involves a great deal of travel, sometimes responding to incidents from Sheffield in the north to Peterborough in the south as part of her regular 12-hour shifts, often at night.
On Friday evening she had been busy with a colleague and a student who was observing their work.
“We were out all night. The second we got off, we were back out again,” she said.
“It was a real variety but that’s not unusual.”
Wendy Hazard, ambulance operations manager for Nottinghamshire said: “I am very saddened by this act of vandalism to a member of staff’s vehicle.
“Our dedicated staff work extremely hard to deliver the best service possible for patients and for them to return to station and find their personal belongings have been vandalised is upsetting.
“We will be working closely with Nottinghamshire Police to find who is responsible for this.”
A Nottinghamshire Police spokesperson said: “We received a report of criminal damage being caused to a paramedic’s vehicle at Newark Ambulance Station in Queens Road, Newark.
“It happened between 8pm on Friday and 6am on Saturday.
“Anyone with any information about the incident should call Nottinghamshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 200 of 21 April 2018, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
