Page 10 - Oundle Life April 2024

QA
Oundle Community First Responders was established in 2003, after the ambulance station was closed. They are a group of volunteers who are trained and deployed by the East Midlands Ambulance Service to patients in need of emergency care in Oundle and the surrounding villages.
What services do you offer? We
attend patients who are suffering from a wide range of acute illnesses including: cardiac arrests, heart attack, chest
pain, stroke, seizures, severe allergic reactions, falls, asthma or difficulty
in breathing, from the age of one day onwards. We provide emergency care and monitoring until the ambulance arrives.
Providing support to people who need it, and their families.
Have you any plans to expand further? Not necessarily to expand further with regard to the number of Responders (we have 11 with three
We also check around 30 local public access defibrillators each month, ensuring they are ready for action if needed, and train groups in CPR and the use of a defibrillator.
What is the best thing about your job?
When are you busiest? Summer is generally the quietest. There are busy spells throughout the year depending on what bugs are around or how the weather is affecting people.
How can the community help you? We are all volunteers and we are a registered charity. The ambulance service provides oxygen, masks
Cardiac arrests are inevitably the most challenging
more awaiting their training), but we are always eager to learn new skills
and purchase new equipment that will enable us to help more patients. Last year we purchased a Raizer chair, which is designed to lift people from the floor who are uninjured but not able to get up by themselves.
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Community care and support