Witley Community First Responder scheme is launched

Witley has a new Community First Responder Scheme armed with high tech medical equipment thanks to fundraising by the Inner Wheel Club of Godalming Woolsack.

Life saving scheme

The scheme, run by St John Ambulance in partnership with South East Coast Ambulance Service, is an absolute life saver. Responders are paged by Surrey Ambulance Control to attend local emergencies at the same time as the ambulance is despatched.

Because they are on call in their local area, responders can reach the casualty within a few minutes. The ability to respond and provide first aid rapidly is crucial for emergencies such as cardiac arrest. Because responders are equipped with oxygen and defibrillators, they can start emergency treatment while the ambulance is on its way.

The Witley responders, freshly qualified from their demanding training course, are Bernie Duddell, Kim Stagg, Jenni Webb and her father John. They are attached to the Godalming team and were presented with a new defibrillator on June 3 by Patience Smith, President of the Inner Wheel Club of Godalming Woolsack.

Support from community

The club held a Bridge Lunch in March, which raised £1,265. Another £200 raised by the Rotary Club of Godalming Woolsack in its December collection topped it up to enable the purchase of the defibrillator and its kit bags.

Patience Smith said she wanted the club to support the St John Ambulance Community First Responders as her family has had a strong connection with the charity over the years. St John and knew how important CFR schemes were in rural areas.

'My grandfather was a Serving Brother in the Order of St John and my aunt was a Serving Sister and I have always had an interest in first aid,'she said.

As she lives in close proximty to one of the Goldaming CFRs she was aware of the importance of the scheme.

'Tessa Cooper of Godalming Community First Responders lives at the bottom of our road so I know about the scheme. It's brilliant what they do. Every minute counts in an emergency and if we can enable somebody to get to a casualty quickly while the ambulance is on its way, it could be a life saver.'

Great success

Last year, Surrey St John Ambulance CFR teams attended 1,250 incidents and gave more than 18,500 hours of voluntary service. The scheme has been a great success and it is gradually being rolled out across Surrey. Effingham and District CFR scheme has won four Mayor of Guildford Community Awards and has just been given a Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, the equivalent of an MBE.