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Sue H, Chair of the Parwich First Responders, has sent us this message:

Firstly, I know that I missed a post in February, but as it is such a short month, I’m hoping that it doesn’t count! Anyway, here is some fantastic news to eclipse my tardiness :

Parwich First Responders have not 1 but 3 new volunteers awaiting training. This really is fantastic as we appeared to be dwindling fast. Not that this news should put off anyone who might have been considering swelling our ranks since the more of us there are, the greater our coverage of the weekly rota. There is usually someone on holiday or just too busy with work and other commitments to be able to respond.

Our group met to train last month. It was particularly useful to refresh our memories of how to administer oxygen since guidelines and methods appear to change with alarming frequency. We always practise our resuscitation skills using training dollies. This is critical for all of us because unlike paramedics we are not constantly being called out to put our training into practice. Without our ongoing training we would quickly become rusty and lose confidence in our abilities.

There have been two call-outs for the group in the last 2 months. An incident to which we were not called was the one involving the air ambulance. Villagers may not be aware that East Midlands Ambulance Service do not send Community First Responders to incidents involving trauma (to the body, not to us, although this is actually precisely why we are not sent to attend young children). Thankfully the casualty in this case has made a full recovery in no small part due to the calmness of those at the scene and the skill of the helicopter pilot in landing on such difficult terrain. This incident also highlights the value for all of us in acquiring some basic First Aid skills – you never know when you might be in a position to use them, even as a passer-by.

Please remember to call 999 in the event of any emergency. The responder on call (providing we have a volunteer available) will then be contacted directly by EMAS. Please do not waste time scrabbling round for personal telephone numbers of people who might not even be in the village at the time.

Finally, thank you to our new volunteers!