Will the Minister confirm whether military drivers who are currently being deployed to support Welsh Ambulance Services Trust are being provided with a training course and, if so, how long is the training course for, what accreditation it gives participants and who is it being provided by?
Military drivers will respond to all categories of call and work alongside a Welsh Ambulance Service clinician when doing so. Military drivers are paired with either an emergency medical technician or a paramedic. No individual is being asked to work beyond their level of training and scope of practice.
No military colleagues have driven under blue-lights while deployed with WAST. Military drivers are not trained to drive under emergency conditions. Emergency medical technicians or paramedics respond under blue lights and sirens to 999 calls, with their paired military colleague in the passenger seat. Military staff will then drive the ambulance to hospital while the emergency medical technician or paramedic attends to the patient.
Military drivers undertake a two-day familiarisation course provided by the Welsh Ambulance Service clinical education team to equip them with the necessary training to support the ambulance clinician they are deployed to work alongside.
The current Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) is due to conclude at the end of November.