Record number of call-outs for emergency EMICS doctor scheme

A volunteer doctor service which gives back-up to ambulance paramedics had a record number of call-outs last year.
Dr Leon Roberts, with the vehicle he uses to attend emergencies as part of the volunteer response organisation, the East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme (EMICS) EMN-170227-123917001Dr Leon Roberts, with the vehicle he uses to attend emergencies as part of the volunteer response organisation, the East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme (EMICS) EMN-170227-123917001
Dr Leon Roberts, with the vehicle he uses to attend emergencies as part of the volunteer response organisation, the East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme (EMICS) EMN-170227-123917001

The East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme (EMICS) was scrambled 1,761 times at the request of the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS).

And its doctors responded on 1,486 of those occasions, often giving life-saving treatment to victims of road accidents, domestic traumas or serious illnesses.

In Melton and Rutland, Dr Leon Roberts and Dr Tim Gray raced to 98 emergencies during 2016.

These happened in their spare time away from their GP surgeries and many times during the late or early hours.

Dr Roberts, who lives at Cold Overton, said: “There are 26 doctors covering the region and we had a huge amount of activity last year.

“I am one of a number of doctors who cover the Melton area and we are on hand to provide enhanced skills at the scene of an emergency to support the ambulance service.”

A former senior Army medic based at Kendrew Barracks at Cottesmore, Dr Roberts has used his experiences of treating casualties in theatres of war such as Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan at incidents closer to home.

Being on call can often be disruptive to family life with his wife Amie and children Neve (10) and Logan (8).

“Many a time I have been playing football with my son in the garden on a bank holiday or doing something else with the family one minute and the next moment I am helping to treat a motorcyclist who has been seriously injured near Melton,” said Dr Roberts, a GP at Oakham Medical Practice.

“My family are fiercely supportive of what I do with EMICS although sometimes they must wish I had another hobby instead like golf.”