A paramedic is raising spirits on social media amid a somber news cycle about animosity towards emergency services staff.
Birmingham-based Rob Moore began the hashtag #BlueLightHappy to encourage the public to share stories of kindness about 999 responders.
Moore tweeted: “There are lots of stories of people not being nice to us lately – it’s time for a morale boost!”
It comes after an incident which saw a resident place an angry note on the windscreen of an ambulance responding to a medical emergency because the vehicle had blocked him in.
Hassan Shabbir wrote: “You may be saving lives but don’t park your van in a stupid place and block my drive,” in a note that went viral.
It later emerged the patient being treated had died, with Shabbir offering sincere apologies for what he described as a “monstrous” action.
A day later West Midlands Ambulance tweeted about a similar incident in which crews were treating a heart attack patient when a driver banged on the side of the vehicle to complain they couldn’t get their car out.
Moore told Black Country Radio: “While I have been punched and spat at in recent months, I’ve also had hundreds of patients who have been so grateful that ambulance staff are there to help them in their hour of need.
“I’m looking for the public to share their stories of when the emergency services have helped them so that we all remember that the vast majority of people are not only nice, but care about each other and the emergency services who are there to protect them.”
The #BlueLightHappy has been trending as twitter users recall their positive experiences with ambulance crews.
Angie Spivey wrote: “I was blue-lighted to hospital earlier this year with suspected meningitis. There paramedics were utterly incredible. You are all amazing and can block my drive any time.”
Lyndsay Cecil echoed the sentiment, tweeting her thanks for the service’s “calm approach and humour to reassure me while I was haemorrhaging at 28 weeks pregnancy with twins, I’ll always be grateful. Your human side helped us all stay calm and reassured. Thank you. You can block my drive anytime.”