Top health award for Forth Valley volunteers

The prestigious Volunteer Award was presented to Forth Valley First Responders at a gala ceremony in Edinburgh to celebrate the annual Scottish Health Awards.

First Responders provide vital care and support to victims of serious or life-threatening incidents and their families.

Murray McEwan, national community resilience manager with the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “This is a great achievment for Forth Valley First Responders and wonderful to see their hard work and dedication recognised.”

Mr Murray, who co-ordinates the operations of 143 first responder schemes across Scotland, added: “Their work is a vital part of the service and help us to save many lives.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service’s chief executive Pauline Howie said: “I’m delighted to see a broad cross section of the service recognised. The delivery of high quality clinical care by our staff and volunteers is at the heart of what we do and testament, in the context of rising demand and patient expectations, to the care, compassion and dedication of our staff and volunteers.”