As he prepares to retire after 30 years, paramedic Dave Banham still remembers his first shift as clear as day.

The former paramedic of the year, said: “I recall a particularly wet and windy week in January 1981, arriving at Oxford Ambulance Station for the first time to be issued with a hat, which ‘will be worn at all times’ other than when performing CPR, a tunic that fitted like a corset, one pair of trousers that were three inches too short in the leg and shoes that were half a size too small, and then being shown how not to drive an ambulance.

“Scary stuff.”

But times have changed.

When he started work, Mr Banham earned just £60 a week, or just over £3,000 a year. The starting wage for a paramedic now is more than £21,000 a year.

Now with countless nighttime call-outs under his belt the father of three is looking forward to some well deserved rest and relaxation.

Mr Banham, 59, joined Oxford Ambulance service as a member of the operational staff, responsible for taking day care patients in and out of hospital, before becoming a fully fledged paramedic in 1985.

The grandfather-of-two said one of the most memorable times during his decades of work was when motorbikes were added to the service – thanks to the generosity of Oxford Mail readers.

In 2000, more than £10,000 was pledged by our readers so the South Central Ambulance Service could purchase a Medibike for its fleet of emergency response vehicles.

But one of his proudest moments, Mr Banham said, came after saving the life of a Cowley man who suffered a heart attack on Christmas Eve 20 years ago.

He said: “He is still alive now, and was so grateful he has since raised enough money for three defibrillators for Oxfordshire.”

Mr Banham said he “couldn’t begin” to calculate how many lives he’d saved, but he said in all his time on the ambulances, no one had died in his care.

He said he will spend his retirement ‘ticking off a list of jobs to do around the house’ prepared for him by his wife Jane.

Although the types of call-outs hadn’t changed much, Mr Banham said the number of calls had increased by 10 or 15 times.

He said: “The service has changed so much over the years.

“It is almost unrecognisable now but it has definitely changed for the better.

“We’re able to offer patients so much more than just taking them to hospital.

“I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of those colleagues that I have worked with, for or alongside, or influenced in any way over the years for their comradeship, leadership, support, advice and guidance over such a long time.”