IT'S VITAL TO REMEMBER

Ambulance man says the tragedy must not be forgotten. Reminders crucial to stop a repeat, says dad of two

- BY MARK McGIVERN

TRIBUTES Sea of flowers and cards outside school after massacre in 1996

AN ambulance crew member has recalled how Dunblane Primary School was "eerily calm" and emergency workers seemed "almost shell-shocked" as they dealt with the aftermath of the 1996 shooting.

John Pritchard was an ambulance technician in Crieff when he was called to a report of a shooting in a primary school on March 13 that year.

He was among the emergency workers sent to the scene after Thomas Hamilton killed 16 children and a teacher before shooting himself.

John and his colleague had little information as they drove to the scene and did not realise the full gravity of the situation until they arrived in Dunblane and saw the number of police around and the expressions on their faces.

Remembering the drive there, John said: "We thought, 'Has it been an air rifle, has it been something small?' We didn't think anything more than that.

"In those days we had VHF radio, so we didn't really get any update en route to it, whereas now we would normally get more intelligence.