Dave Bowling from Community First Responder gave a fascinating presentation on the work of this volunteer medical emergency service.
A First Responders aim, as the name suggests, is to be the first on the scene of a medical emergency providing not only emergency care, but life support and also comfort, all usually at a time of stress.
Dave's area covers Stanford, Corringham and Tilbury and he uses his own vehicle which is fully equipped with a full medical kit, defibrillator and oxygen equipment. Dave's team receive up to 16 hours of training per month, are all volunteers and some of his colleagues even work in the normal medical sector. He is also an instructor and goes to schools and club's and teaches basic life support and CPR.
Dave had some humorous tales to tell about the job, like the time when his responder response siren went off when he was in the dentists chair with an open mouth. Not so funny, was the time some halfwit put in a call claiming his wife was having heart problems and when Dave arrived, instead of confronting a heart attack patient was asked by her husband if he could pump up his bicycle tire with his oxygen bottle - that man got a bit of a telling off. He also gave instances where his team through quick action had saved the life of a young boy suffering a heart attack and he said that kind of experience made the job so worthwhile.
Finally, Dave showed us how to use a defibrillator and cannula mask. When asked by Clive Page whether Thurrock was short of publicly available defibrillators, he said the area was well provided but the biggest issue was the maintenance of the units, particularly the renewal of batteries and chest pads. A vote of thanks was given by Andrew Roast.
On a similar subject, our associated Rotary Club in Iserlohn, Germany has a project to provide defibrillators and training in their area of Germany. Rotary Making a Difference.