UK medic could lose job for speeding to save a life
A grey area in the law means it is illegal for ambulances to speed if they are not carrying a patient
By Fred Attewill
The Metro
CAMBRIDGESHIRE, England — An ambulance driver could lose his job and his licence after he was clocked at 112mph while delivering an organ for emergency surgery.
Paul Bex was speeding under blue lights after a surgeon told him the liver was needed within three hours.
But a speed camera caught him over the limit and police sent him a letter saying he faces prosecution.
Despite an appeal by his employer, Lifeline Medical Transport Service, Mr Bex will have to appear in court.
A grey area in the law means it is illegal for ambulances to speed if they are not carrying a patient.
'I was doing my job safely and as quickly as possible. Now I find out I could lose my licence,' said Mr Bex from Duxford, Cambridgeshire.
'The conditions were dry, clear and safe. I have been trained in the same way that the police are trained,' the 51-year-old added. 'The worst outcome is I could lose my licence, which means I will not be able to work.' The incident happened in July when Mr Bex was carrying the organ to the north-east from Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge. He was flashed by a camera in Lincolnshire.
Dave Cooper, operations manager at Lifeline, said the definition of an ambulance — which dates back to 1946 — is a vehicle 'conveying sick, injured or disabled persons' but does not mention transportation of human tissue.
Don Williams, president of the British Ambulance Association, said the law was 'nonsense'. 'If a senior surgeon hands me an organ and says the situation is timecritical, I owe a duty of care to the patient, the surgeon and the relatives of the person who donated the organ.'
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