A power supplier has joined forces with an ambulance service to train recruits.

Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust had linked up with Wales & West Utilities to lead 30 paramedic students through vital training in a realistic setting.

Aspiring senior paramedics used the gas networks' Treforest Academy - which is one of the few places in the country to mimic a ‘street’ environment - for training exercises in an authentic urban environment.

Over four days, the Trust took 30 paramedic students through a range of practical assessments on tasks - including administering drugs and responding to cardiac arrests - in an urban environment.

The Trust's clinical lead, David Thomas, said: “We need to educate our paramedics in a realistic setting and Wales & West Utilities Treforest Academy is one of the few places in the country with a ‘street’ that is completely under cover, which allows us to use our equipment in an ‘outdoor’ setting, without running the risk of it getting wet.

“That’s crucial for us. The doll we use to simulate a patient has a pulse rate and can breathe on its own. It costs more than £20,000 and would get damaged in the rain.”

All attendees adhered to standard risk assessments, while each of the trainees and instructors have had two vaccine doses and carry out two lateral flow tests a week.

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Wales & West Utilities training centre manager, Christopher Pugh, added: “We use our Treforest Academy to develop the gas engineers of the future, and we’re pleased to be able to support Welsh Ambulance Service Trust in training their paramedics too.

"The street scene provides a safe and realistic environment for essential training, while giving gas engineers and paramedics alike a genuine sense of what their future roles will involve.”