A Sidcup paramedic has looked back on an ever-changing and eventful career as he celebrates 28 years of life-service with his crewmate.

Steve Redburn and his colleague Tony West, an ambulance technician from Croydon, both joined London Ambulance Service in the late 1980s before becoming crewmates in 1990.

Since then they have saved dozens of lives, delivered more than 40 babies and survived several animal attacks.

"When we joined we didn’t have defibrillators and we couldn’t give out aspirins.

"Getting blood pressure is about all we could do, along with basic first aid and splinting skills.

"It was also quite a physical job, with a lot of lifting involved and no motorised tail lifts on the vehicles," said Steve, 54.

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Both men are fathers, with Tony having two girls and Steve two boys.

"Tony’s second child and my first were born within weeks of each other.

"On the morning of our first shift back after being off on paternity leave we had to deliver a baby in the footwell of a car!" said Steve.

They have spent most of their careers at Battersea ambulance station and have attended several major incidents including the Baltic Exchange Bombing in April 1992, which resulted in them appearing on the front page of newspapers.

"There were some businessmen having a meeting who got showered with glass after the explosion and there was a security guard who was injured.

"We took them to Barts Hospital but the press were already aware we were coming.

"As soon as we opened the back doors of the ambulance the flashes started going off, we were like rabbits in the headlights," Steve explained.

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Both men have seen it all after 28 years of working together

They said their most memorable job was being chased and attacked by a “Labrador-sized” iguana that was in a patient’s garden.

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"We were called to a house that was surrounded by a bit of land and a big wall.

"As we were going in we heard a rustling in the bushes but didn’t think anything of it.

"As I came back out to take kit to the vehicle I was met by this iguana which was three and a half foot long, nose to tail.

"It was obviously a pet that had been left out in the summer to sunbathe. It chased me across the grass but I managed to escape.

"When Tony opened the door it lunged at him and got hold of his trouser leg," he joked.

Speaking highly of both men, clinical team leader James Bradley said: "I have known them both for nearly 25 years and I can honestly say their consistently professional approach to their work has never wavered.

"They are both top guys who have seen many changes at Battersea over the last quarter century and as senior members of the station they make all our new staff feel welcome.

"Possibly the highest compliment I can pay them both is to say if any of my family were unwell, Steve and Tony are the crew I’d want attending to them."