Former Mansfield headteacher Tony Warsop has swapped the classroom to follow his dream of working for the ambulance service.

Tony was headteacher of the Flying High Academy at Ladybrook, Mansfield, before becoming executive headteacher over several primary schools for The Flying High Trust and then director of school improvement.

But after changing career — and now being six months into a role as emergency medical dispatcher (EMD) for East Midlands Ambulance Servicer — he insists: “It’s never too late to follow a dream.”

Tony, of Newark, was 40 when he decided that it was time to follow his dream.

Now, four years later, he has already helped hundreds of patients to get the emergency help they need and made a difference to their lives.

“I was burnt out and disillusioned with the education system, and I was working all the time. I had no work/life balance,” he said.

“I’d always wanted to be a paramedic, but when I was younger I needed to look after my mum, who was terminally ill. I just fell into working in education and I couldn’t afford to go back to university to retrain as a paramedic.

Tony Warsop was headteacher at The Flying High Academy, Mansfield.

“I reached 40 and began to feel trapped. I was earning good money and had a mortgage to pay, so I felt I had to keep doing what I was doing.

“After a long time thinking about it, I realised that I wasn’t trapped, I could sell my house and move to somewhere smaller, which would allow me to earn less and be happier.”

Tony explained that he wanted to be in a role where he was helping people on a daily basis, while also having the chance to work as part of a big team, connect with colleagues, and experience the camaraderie he had been missing. Then he spotted the EMD role, applied, and began training last October.

“When I first joined, I thought it would find it tough emotionally, but actually it’s not that side that I find tough,” he added.

“The pace of the job is much more intense than I thought it would be, and the personal accountability that comes with the role — I need to do a good job for each person who calls 999 for help.

“The hardest incident I have dealt with so far was actually one where I was struggling to locate a patient in cardiac arrest. The caller didn’t know their location and I was distressed as I thought this delay would impact on the patient.

“However, I started CPR instructions, and my colleagues were able to track the location, and the patient survived.

“There are obviously lots of traumatic calls as well, and sometimes you just need to take a bit of time out of the room for a breather.”

However, as this is a second career for Tony, he said that being older helps with the role because he can draw on his life experiences as part of doing the right thing for each caller.

“Maturity, wisdom, and age helps because I came into this job with my eyes open,” he explained.

“I’ve had traumatic experiences and experienced personal loss, and I’ve seen programmes like Ambulance on the TV, so I knew it was high stakes and high pressure.

“The best part of this job is being on the end of the phone in someone’s darkest moment and having the privileged to be kind, compassionate, and find a way to help them.

“Every call is someone’s emergency, even if it’s just toothache and we won’t be sending an ambulance — they have called because they are scared and are reaching out for help.”