Revealed: anti-nerve agent drug was used for first time in UK to save novichok victim

Drug saved Charlie Rowley, ambulance service reveals, amid concern for long-term effects on paramedics

Steven Morris and Caroline Bannock
Mon 8 Jul 2019 13.52 BST Last modified on Mon 8 Jul 2019 14.18 BST

Paramedics saved the life of one of the Wiltshire novichok victims by administering an anti-nerve agent drug at the scene that had never been used on a patient before in the UK, it can be revealed.

The Guardian has also learned that a number of paramedics have reported feeling ill after being present at the Salisbury and Amesbury incidents.

One of the paramedics who had helped the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter when they collapsed in Salisbury was among those who went to the aid of Charlie Rowley when he also fell critically ill four months later in Amesbury.

Instinct told him that a second nerve agent poisoning may have taken place and Rowley was given the drug. Speaking in detail for the first time about its role responding to the poisonings a year ago, South Western Ambulance Service NHS foundation trust (SWASFT) said it believed this saved Rowley’s life.

SWASFT also confirmed that staff had reported symptoms including headaches, sore throats and eye problems, and that some remained concerned about the possible long-term effects on their health. The health problems reported by the paramedics raise the possibility that more people were affected by novichok than has been officially stated.

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