How a Newcastle Geordie in fire safety community engagement with a heart for Kashmir put paramedics on motorbikes, and changed how a nation answers a cry for help
(By Dr Naeem Ul Hassan)
Minutes That Matter
In Mirpur, Kashmir, the traffic has stopped moving. Horns blare, engines idle, and somewhere beyond the gridlock a mother is fighting for every breath.
An ambulance would be stuck in that jam for minutes she does not have. Instead, a paramedic on a specially equipped motorbike threads between the cars, his medical kit strapped behind him, and arrives in time.
He may never know the name of the man who made that journey possible. It is Mehrban Sadiq, and his life shows what happens when one person’s compassion refuses to stay in one place.
The Geordie Next Door
Mehrban’s home is Newcastle upon Tyne, in the north-east of England. For 20 years he has served with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, where his speciality is community safety engagement.
This is not the story of dramatic rescues from burning buildings. It is the patient, often unseen work of prevention: knocking on doors, earning trust, and helping fire services and communities understand one another long before an emergency arrives.
Those who know him best have trusted him with more. He was a councillor for Heaton ward in Newcastle, and in 2023 the city council appointed him an observer on the International Newcastle Board. He has also given years of service as a trustee of several charities.
From Grief to Action
Many people see disaster on the news, feel a moment of sorrow, and move on. Mehrban could not.
Moved by the devastation of the 2005 earthquake in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, he went on to found the International Emergency Team UK (IETUK) in 2013. It started as a self-funded volunteer partnership with Rescue 1122, Punjab’s emergency service. There was no large budget and no publicity, only firefighters passing on what they knew to firefighters who needed it.
From 2017, his team championed a simple but powerful idea for Punjab: paramedics on motorbikes. Where congested streets and rough terrain held ambulances back, the bikes kept moving. They have since responded to thousands of emergencies, shaped policy, and been adopted by other provinces across Pakistan.
In 2019, Pakistan’s rescue team became the first in South Asia to be certified by the UN’s International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG). IETUK supported that achievement with continuing training reviews and policy support. A volunteer network from Newcastle had helped lift a country onto the world rescue stage.
When the Rescuer Needed Rescue
Even the strongest helpers sometimes need help themselves. Some years ago, Mehrban, who had always thought of himself as fit and strong, was struck by a serious illness.
He chose openness over silence. He has spoken publicly about turning to the International Emergency Team UK charity and about the programme that helped him recover. The lesson he draws is a simple one: support can put you on the road, but you must choose to walk it every single day.
Mehrban kept walking. He then used his own experience to encourage everyone in the fire family, whatever their rank, to stand behind the charity that had stood behind him. That is the heart of a true humanitarian: turning personal hardship into help for others.
Four Bikes Come Home
Today Mehrban is a Trustee of FIRE AID, a UK charity that, since 2012, has worked to close what it calls the Global Fire Gap. Its approach is wonderfully practical. Serviceable fire engines and equipment retired in Britain are matched with fire services that need them, and every donation comes with training.
In August 2025, FIRE AID and IETUK brought Mehrban’s motorbike model back to Kashmir. Together they launched a Paramedic Motorbike Ambulance Service in Mirpur, donating four bikes loaded with life-saving medical supplies for its first phase.
“Rapid access to medical care saves lives.”
For Mehrban, it really is that simple. Where roads and traffic defeat ordinary ambulances, the solution should be affordable and designed for the place it serves. And the work goes on. Plans ahead include water and rope rescue equipment, advanced pre-hospital training, and first-aid education for families in Mirpur and the surrounding communities.
Mehrban Sadiq has spent his life going where help is needed most. He has taken rescue to places an ambulance cannot reach, and hope to places it had not reached before. His example deserves to carry even further.
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