Thief steals furious paramedic’s personal belongings from his ambulance while he is busy treating a patient
- Karl Williams, who is based in Coventry, was with patient when items were taken
- He said ‘disappointed and slightly angry’ didn’t even begin to cover his feelings
- More than 100 people replied to tweet and said thief’s actions were ‘disgusting’
A furious paramedic has revealed how he discovered his personal belongings had been stolen from an ambulance while he was helping a patient.
Karl Williams, who works for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said ‘disappointed and slightly angry’ didn’t even begin to cover his feelings.
The clinical team mentor tweeted on Friday and has since received more than 100 replies with people saying they think the thief’s actions were ‘disgusting’.
Karl Williams (pictured), who works for West Midlands Ambulance Service, found his personal belongings had been taken from his ambulance while he was helping a patient
Mr Williams wrote: ‘The last thing I expect to find when I return to my Ambulance after treating an individual, is to find my personal belonging have been stolen from my Ambulance. Disappointed and slightly angry doesn’t even cover it.’
The paramedic, who is based in Coventry, also promised that the thief would be caught.
More than one hundred people have retweeted Mr Williams’ post, with dozens saying it was shocking that his belongings had been taken while on the job.
One person wrote: ‘I think this is disgusting. They may need your help one day. Hope they get caught and are severely punished.’
Mr Williams said ‘disappointed and slightly angry’ didn’t even begin to cover his feelings after discovering that his items had been taken while he was on the job
While others asked if the ambulance had been fitted with cameras, which have helped catch and convict others who have targeted emergency crews.
Fellow paramedic Matt Harrison related a similar experience in his reply to the tweet.
He wrote: ‘The guy who did the exact same thing to me got caught. He was identified by a local neighbour Bobby from the ambulance CCTV but nothing was done. My belongings were never recovered. I got off lightly. He was already on remand for mugging & stealing from an old lady.’
More than 100 people replied to Mr Williams’ tweet saying they found the thief’s actions to be ‘disgusting’ and that they hoped the person was caught
Adam Alcock also told how thieves had stolen from his ambulance, taking potentially life-saving equipment, while he was on duty in Hanley.
Adam wrote: ‘Walked back to the truck with my crew mate and ops manager to find the side window on the sliding door smashed with a vodka bottle. They took 2 personal kit bags. Bls bag, als bag. Entonox and tried to get into the safe.’
Other Twitter users said the latest incident as a sign of the times, with one writing ‘The UK in the 21st century’.
And another wrote: ‘Very sad. There is no respect for emergency workers any more people really need to take a long hard look at themselves.’
Other paramedics also replied and shared stories of similar incidents happening to them
Replying to being tagged in the comments, Adam Alcock said he found his ambulance had been broken into and equipment taken
In October 2018, West Midlands Ambulance launched an appeal after a thief broke into an ambulance to steal the paramedics’ belongings. The vehicle had been parked up in Northfield, Birmingham, while the crew attended an emergency.
The culprit was caught one on the vehicle’s cameras smashing a side window to snatch personal items including an iPhone before making off.
West Midlands Ambulance Service told MailOnline: ‘We are extremely disappointed to hear of staff being victims of crime.
‘It is completely unacceptable that ambulance staff, who are responding to help people in their hour of need, should have to face theft or be the victim of any type of crime.’