South Central Ambulance Service has tracked down a man with many tales after appealing in the Oxford Mail for old employees to help celebrate the NHS' 60th birthday.

SCAS, which itself marked its second anniversary on July 1, wants people with vintage ambulance equipment and uniforms or insightful stories to come forward with memories.

The idea is for the service to gather anecdotes and memorabilia to put on pubic display.

And, following an article in the Oxford Mail last month, Stephen Wagstaff, from Wheatley, made contact.

The 77-year-old became a driver for the now defunct Oxford and County Ambulance Service in 1966 - on a wage of £13 a week.

Back then training was very limited, he said, and ambulance personnel were required to have a first aid certificate from St John Ambulance or the Red Cross.

Crews were provided with a metal box containing first aid supplies, including bandages, dressings and blankets often purchased from surplus military stocks.

Mr Wagstaff said: "I was an ambulanceman, now it's all paramedics. All we had to save lives in the old days was oxygen.

"We came across a lot of house fires, and car accidents were a major problem, especially along the Northern Bypass."

Ambulances were initially black, but were changed to white in 1975, and equipped with an electric bell operated by the driver using a foot switch on the floor.

But there were no performance targets, Mr Wagstaff said.

He said: "In the early 1970s there was big change. The ambulance service joined the health service - before we were an agency of the city council.

"Ambulancemen are much more qualified these days, but having said that I wouldn't say they were necessarily better than the men I worked alongside. They were good men."

South Central Ambulance Service spokesman Neville Wade said Mr Wagstaff's stories helped piece together the history of the ambulance service in Oxfordshire.

He said: "It's all too easy to forget there's a history to the service, particularly in the way it was amalgamated.

"Meeting and talking to people who served in days long since gone means some of the history is retained - we want to establish the legacy of South Central."

GRAPHIC TALES

Stephen Wagstaff worked in the ambulance service between 1966 until 1985. Here are some of his stories:

He once treated a student who had attempted to commit hara-kiri. The man needed 72 stitches - but survived.

Mr Wagstaff was once reprimanded by a coroner for removing the body of a mechanic involved in a gruesome accident in case the man's family saw the extent of the injuries. This was contrary to regulations because an investigation had yet to be carried out.

In another case, a student high on drugs convinced himself he could fly - but fell from a third floor building. Miraculously, he only suffered minor facial injuries.

On a lighter note, Mr Wagstaff remembered how he used to give young patients a magic penny and tell them to make a wish."You have got to gain the patient's confidence before you can calm them down," he said.