Ray Walker – Irish Red Cross Emergency Medical Technician
Ray Walker, Health and Safety Officer in ABP Food Group Waterford, is saving lives in and out of the office as he is an Emergency Medical Technician with the Irish Red Cross.
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Ray Walker, Health and Safety Officer in ABP Food Group Waterford, is saving lives in and out of the office as he is an Emergency Medical Technician with the Irish Red Cross.
Ray Walker has been a member of the Irish Red Cross since 2002. Hi initially joined the Red Cross as a basic first aider in the Navan unit and eventually transferred to the Waterford unit following his move to ABP Food Group. Following a six month part time course to become an Emergency Medical Technician, which combines theory and practical lessons, Ray attained a registered practitioner’s licence EMT level with the Irish Red Cross.
As an EMT, Ray provides ambulance cover for numerous events throughout Waterford City and County, including festivals such as Spraoi, Tall Ships, Winterval and the Waterford Harvest Festival. The volunteer ambulance is also at sports events, car rallies and equestrian events. A collapsed lung at a football match in Navan and a cardiac arrest at an equestrian event in Waterford were the most adrenalin pumping moments for Ray, however, thanks to the Irish Red Cross being at these events, both patients made a full recovery.
Ray reached the peak of his time with the Irish Red Cross by becoming Unit Officer in the Navan and Waterford units for a number of years but chose to step down last year to reduce his workload. In January 2015 Ray was voted Waterford City Irish Red Cross person of the year for 2014; an accolade that he greatly appreciated as it came from his peers in the Waterford City branch of the Irish Red Cross.
Recently Ray dedicated time to organising the Irish Red Cross Carer of the Year Award 2015 in Waterford. These awards were sponsored by ABP Although Ray enjoys being on the scene, he feels the most rewarding part of his work with the Red Cross is training people, particularly community based training. “You will always get more from it than what you give” he says and firmly believes. He highly recommends for anyone to volunteer with the Red Cross.
