More volunteers will aid initiative

12:26pm Friday 15th September 2006

A DOZEN more volunteers are needed if Ledbury is to have 24-hour cover for a scheme which aims to reach heart attack victims as quickly as possible.

Now under the wing of the West Midlands Ambulance Service, and with more resources to draw on, the local ambulance service has launched a fresh appeal to bring cover in Ledbury up a level already achieved in other towns.

Ledbury's own Community First Responder scheme was launched last year by the old Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service NHS Trust, but only three volunteers came forward.

The scheme makes use of trained civilians who could be first on the scene in the case of many medical emergencies, ahead of paramedic ambulance crews.

The volunteers, including Ledbury Swimming Pool lifeguard, Lorraine Wadley, have already been trained in life saving skills, including the use of oxygen and a portable defibrillator to assist heart attack victims.

Miss Wadley has been first on the scene to emergencies three times in Ledbury since January.

"Possibly, I have saved lives. I've responded to people with chest pains and given them oxygen," she said.

Community responders are part of the ambulance service's emergency response and both a responder and an ambulance may to directed to the scene of an emergency, following a 999 call.

Mike Belcher, the Community First Responder manager, said the new resources available to the local ambulance service, following the link up with the West Midlands Ambulance service, were "tremendous".

He urged people to take advantage of these resources and step forward for training.

He said: "When someone suffers an cardiac arrest, their chances of survival drop by up to 10% for every minute that passes."

Budding volunteers should write to, Human Resources Director, West Midlands Ambulance Service, Worcester Ambulance Station, Spetchley Road, Worcester.