A PARAMEDIC was found snoozing in the back of his rapid response vehicle after inhaling laughing gas, a hearing was told.

A senior manager at Darlington Memorial Hospital spotted paramedic Mark Pollitt snoring in the back seat with a mask connected to a cylinder of Entonox gas propped near his face.

The Health Professions Council hearing yesterday was told that senior operations manager Les Matthias noticed the car in a bay outside the hospital.

Mr Pollitt, who was on duty, had self-administered the gas on February 20, last year, while waiting for an emergency call.

Sophie Lister, for the council, said Mr Matthias noticed the gas cylinder, normally stored in the boot, on the back seat connected to a white tube and mask close to Mr Pollitt’s face.

He took a photo of the snoozing paramedic before eventually having to shout to wake him up.

Miss Lister told the hearing: “He said Mr Pollitt seemed unaware of his surroundings upon waking.”

Once awake, Mr Pollitt tried to hide the mouth piece and tube, she added.

The incident was reported to Douglas McDougal, another manager at the hospital, who began an investigation.

The hearing was told that Mr Pollitt initially denied being asleep and suggested Mr Matthias had been aggressive and used foul and abusive language.

However, once the paramedic, who has been employed by the North-East Ambulance Service NHS Trust since 1994, was shown the photograph, he confessed to using the gas.

Much of the hearing took place in private after Mr Pollitt, who attended with his wife, said he had health issues which needed to be considered.

Mr Pollitt admitted using Entonox without authorisation and said he had done so on previous occasions, but had not used it since the discovery.

Panel chairman Martin Ryder said: “The panel does not doubt the genuineness of Mr Pollitt’s stated intention never to abuse Entonox again, but the fact that the February 2010 incident was not the first on which he had done so, demonstrates that good intentions can sometimes not be realised.”

The panel agreed that Mr Pollitt, who now works for ERS International Group Ltd, was still fit to practice.

However, they imposed strict conditions on how he works for the next 12 months.