• Contact us
  • About us
  • Digital edition
  • Online archive
Friday, June 13, 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

  • Sport
    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
  • News
    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    £37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Pub landlord must remove Covid canopy

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Flower fairies of Kirkby Stephen brighten people’s day

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

    Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

  • Sport
    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Double national triumph for Stuart Robinson

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Patterdale’s Eden Eagles make history

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith teen crowned British vault champion

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    Penrith gymnasts represent North of England in finals

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    New boss revealed for Penrith AFC

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Penrith Panthers celebrate winning season

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Darren Edmondson leaves Penrith AFC

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Lucy plays key role in county T20 triumph

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

    Gold for Keith in annual festival of orienteering

  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • Buy Photos
  • Buy your paper
  • North Lakes Living
No Result
View All Result
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald
No Result
View All Result
Home Latest

Eden paramedic’s starring role in BBC series Ambulance

by CWH
7 October 2021
in Latest, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Vinny Romano behind the wheel of a paramedic vehicle
Vinny Romano. Picture: BBC/Dragonfly Film and Television Ltd/Ryan McNamara

Eden-based consultant paramedic Vinny Romano will be a familiar face on BBC documentary series Ambulance as the spotlight shines on Cumbria in a new series.

Vinny, of Cliburn, near Penrith, joined North West Ambulance Service in 2000, initially on patient transport.

He worked his way through various positions and, two-and-a-half years ago, became the first person nationally to take on a new role of consultant paramedic for education.

“I’m still able to respond and respond regularly to the more serious incidents and that’s what you’ll see in the programme,” he said.

In recent weeks, Ambulance viewers have been given a moving and in-depth insight into the NWAS’s blue light response to the outbreak of COVID in the Liverpool and Manchester areas.

Casting his mind back to early 2020, Vinny said: “It was really scary. It was a frightening time and it still is a little; especially at the start of the pandemic when people really didn’t know what COVID was or how it was transmitted or how serious it was.

“We were going out to patients on a regular basis and we were just scared for our families — coming home; were you bringing it back to them? Some of our staff were staying in hotels just to protect families.

“It was a scary time and it still is to some degree because people are still catching COVID and people are still dying from it. I know the numbers are much lower but it’s still an illness that can cause problems.”

Last week, a new series of Ambulance began, focusing on Lancashire and Cumbria.

Vinny, who works in both counties, said: “I guess it will start to show the contrast between the kind of things that go on up in the Lake District, in Cumbria and Lancashire, compared with the cities of Liverpool and Manchester; the different kinds of incidents that we have but also the similarities that are there as well.

“The series is focused post-lockdown. We’ll be looking at a lot of the mental health issues that came out of COVID, of people being locked down for such a long time.

“It’s a very honest representation of what we do on a daily basis. Probably the biggest point of it is that it’s not just cherry-picking certain incidents, it’s showing what’s happening every day.

“It’s the softer side, the caring side that will start to come through as well; how we manage patients, how we care for them, more the hand-holding element of the job.”

Vinny, who took a media studies course at Cumbria College of Art and Design in Carlisle before joining NWAS, previously featured in a Border TV fly-on-the-wall documentary in the mid-2000s.

Of being followed again, by a Dragonfly Film and Television crew, he said: “They were very professional. They made sure they didn’t get in the way of the patient care we were delivering. It made it very easy to do the job without feeling like we were being watched.”

A married father of four sons, Vinny discussed his approach to leaving his family home for work on the front line. “We’ve got to have faith in the systems and the personal protective equipment that we wear,” he said.

“But we’ve all got a job to do. Everybody’s got a role to play in this, and there are always people out there who need your help, your support and being cared for, and somebody’s got to do it.

“That’s the thing: you can’t just turn your back on your job because times get more difficult.

“I’ve been out to family members and that’s when you start to realise that when you need an ambulance, you need an ambulance; and you need it and you want it as soon as possible because you’re at that crisis point. If everybody just downs tools, the whole system falls down.”

Away from his employment, Vinny is a well known musician with bands Absolutely and Squeeze Box. “That’s a nice contrast from the day job, to do something completely different,” he added.

Ambulance is shown on Thursdays, at 9pm, on BBC1.

Related Posts

Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith
News

Man arrested after fleeing from police in Penrith

13 June 2025
£37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads
Latest

£37.7 million to tackle potholes and upgrade roads

13 June 2025
Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair
News

Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

13 June 2025
New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed
News

New bid for Appleby stallion sculpture revealed

13 June 2025
18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire
Food and Drink

18th century Eden pub sold as owners retire

13 June 2025
Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit
News

Tebay’s plans for battery storage unit

13 June 2025
No Result
View All Result

Stay connected

Facebook Twitter Instagram

Most popular

Take a walk down memory lane

Take a walk down memory lane

13 June 2025
£900 raised for Zambia neonatal unit

£900 raised for Zambia neonatal unit

13 June 2025
Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

Special needs campsite set to open in Eden

13 June 2025
Carbon audit produces positive results for North Sheep host family

Carbon audit produces positive results for North Sheep host family

13 June 2025
Innocent drivers get caught up in police stinger operation

Innocent drivers get caught up in police stinger operation

13 June 2025
Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

Over £38,000-worth of fake goods seized at Appleby Horse Fair

13 June 2025
Cumberland and Westmorland Herald Logo

33 Middlegate
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 7SY

Phone: 01768 862313
Email: news@cwherald.com

Registered in England as Barrnon Media Limited. No: 12475190
VAT registration number: 343486488

Explore

  • News
  • Sport
  • Farming
  • Property
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Your view

Useful links

  • Contact us
  • Photosales
  • Online archive
  • Buy your paper
  • Digital edition
  • North Lakes Living
  • Advertise
  • About us

Follow us on

© Barrnon Media Limited 2025

Terms & Conditions / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy

This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation
Review Your Cart
0
Discount
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Total Installment Payments
Bundle Discount
Checkout

 
0
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Obituaries
  • Nostalgia
  • Online archive
  • more
    • North Lakes Living
    • Buy Photos
    • Buy your paper
    • About us
    • Contact us

© 2020 Cumberland & Westmorland Herald