AS A cadet in the Okehampton St John Ambulance, Trevor Wayborn knew exactly what career path he wanted to take and now at the age of 37, the paramedic is one of the youngest people ever to receive a long service award from the ambulance service.

Trevor was presented with the Queen's Award for 20 years' service and good conduct at the St Mellion International Resort in Cornwall, alongside colleague Alan Baker. Both men work out of Barnstaple Ambulance Station.

At the age of ten, Trevor, who grew up in Okehampton, joined the local St John Ambulance brigade.

'After that it was all I ever wanted to do and since joining the ambulance service I have never looked back,' he said.

He was encouraged by St John members Bob Letchford and Graham Payne — the latter was superintendent of the Okehampton branch at the time and later became the founder of search and rescue charity Rapid UK, which responds to disasters all over the world.

'I was 16 when I went into the ambulance service and worked in several different places, at Exeter in the control room at first, then in patient transport taking non-urgent patients to their hospital appointments in Tiverton, Crediton and Holsworthy,' he said.

In 1994 Trevor moved onto front line duties as a paramedic in Bideford and Barnstaple and is now an emergency care practitioner, which is the highest grade clinically that he can be in the service.

His level of training is such that he is able to treat more than 50% of people that he sees in their own home and hence avoid trips into hospital.

'I am very passionate about my job and every day is different,' he said.

'There are good times and bad times in this job but fortunately I have colleagues around me that get me through the bad times.

'When the good times come along you realise why you do what you do.'

Trevor said he was grateful for the grounding he had in St John.

'I would recommend it to anyone who wants to go into the ambulance service,' he said.

'Nowadays the only way of getting into the ambulance service is through university but getting a foundation through something like St John or the Red Cross makes it a whole lot easier.'