By Scunthorpe ambulance crew save patient from scam
The quick-thinking actions of an ambulance crew in Scunthorpe have prevented an elderly patient from losing thousands of pounds.
Yvette Ray and Chris Gough attended a patient and during their observations, established that something was not right.
The patient had mentioned in passing that some people had knocked on his door the day before, claiming to be trained tradesmen who wanted to have a look at his roof.
Yvette said:
“The patient told us that they went upstairs and after claiming to have conducted some checks, they said they needed a sum of £9,000 to buy some new roof timbers but they needed the money upfront before coming back with the supplies.
“I went outside to have a look at the man’s roof and it looked in good condition to me.”
“My heart was just breaking for him in that moment as he was starting to panic that he was going to have all his money taken out of his account.
“We could tell that this man was very vulnerable based on his age and the fact that he was living alone, and I believe this is why he was targeted.”
Once the crew established that their patient had supplied the cold-callers with a cheque, and that his chequebook and bank cards were missing, Yvette immediately rang the bank to have them all cancelled.
“I just wanted to do everything I could do to reassure him that everything was going to be ok and that he was not going to lose his money,” she added.
Yvette and Chris, both of East Midlands Ambulance Service, also contacted the patient’s family to let them know what had happened – she also informed the police.
Chris Gough said:
“What we did that day is what myself, Yvette and our frontline colleagues do for patients on a daily basis.
“We don’t see what we did as going ‘above and beyond’ because we wanted to make sure that the gentleman was going to be looked after long after we left the scene.
“If this situation hadn’t been resolved for our patient then this would have had a detrimental impact on his recovery and longer-term health and we come to work with the aim to improve outcomes for all our patients.”
If you are approached by someone you believe to be a rogue trader, call Humberside Police via the non-emergency number 101 or call 999 if you feel in danger.
