History
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The training of First Responders first took place at the university in July 2001. A fully stocked kit bag was received from the Welsh Ambulance Trust and a Lifepak 500 Automated External Defibrillator (AED), funded by the British Heart foundation, was donated to the University. Some half a dozen or so volunteers were trained at the University by Richard Hook of the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust (father of James Hook of Ospreys and Wales fame). However, when it came to setting up the scheme following the training there were various problems. Despite repeated requests a radio was never supplied by the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust, and in those days First Responders were notified about calls via radio. Within a short time the number of available trained volunteers began to diminish as individuals decided that they no longer wished to be part of the scheme. No doubt many were disillusioned by the lack of progress in getting the scheme up and running. Lastly, for whatever reason, nobody took charge of the scheme and drove it through to fruition. Eventually only three qualified First Responders remained - Jerry Collins in LIS, John Davies in the Safety Office and Cathy Anthony in Occupational Health. For a while these three tried to keep the scheme viable, though it was never officially recognised by the Welsh Ambulance NHS Trust and in fact its validity was somewhat questionable. In the meantime Jerry joined the newly created First Responder scheme in Pennard (website www.pennardfr.org.uk) and was able to see how a scheme could develop and grow. The scheme works very effectively in the area and currently provides emergency cover for the community for about 50% of each week. By late summer 2002 John was deemed “out of compliance”, i.e. he had failed to attend a refresher course within 12 months of his original training, and at that point it was decided that Jerry and Cathy could not maintain the scheme on their own. The scheme therefore effectively came to an end at that time. Nothing changed until Richard Lake was appointed to the Medical School in 2006. Richard’s experience and background made him an ideal candidate as a First Responder so he was approached and asked if he’d be prepared to join the scheme - which he readily agreed to do. At that point Jerry took control of the scheme as co-ordinator and Dr Ben Raichoudhury of Occupational Health and Ian Evans of the Engineering School (one of the original volunteers of 2001) agreed to undertake First Responder refresher training in order to take part in the scheme. That completed, in May 2006 a contract mobile phone was purchased (courtesy of the Safety Office) as the means of ambulance control in Carmarthen contacting the duty First Responder and the five First Responders agreed to take their place on a rota of cover for the campus, with each First Responder essentially covering one day each per week during normal working hours. (NB this is not the norm. It is normal for two First Responders to be on call at any one time as dealing with an unconscious, non-breathing casualty actually requires 2 people to effectively treat the casualty). Clearly, although this situation was better than no cover at all, extra volunteers were needed to provide comprehensive cover with two First Responders on call at all times during the working week. Jerry emailed staff at the university to gauge the level of support for the scheme and ask for volunteers who would be prepared to be trained as First Responders - and be available thereafter to provide cover on an ongoing basis. In all 24 members of staff put their names forward for training. However, it proved impossible to fit all 24 into two three-day training courses and in fact just 13 were able to attend and complete the training courses. After passing their written and practical assessments, clearing CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) checks and receiving their ID passes the new volunteers were cleared to join the rota and on 30 January 2007 the scheme was officially re-launched with cover being provided by responders working in pairs on the Singleton campus from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. At the same time the senior management team of the university funded the purchase of extra equipment so that 3 fully equipped bags and AEDs could be strategically placed around the campus in locked cupboards. Since then 2 undergraduate students, fully trained First Responders at their home addresses, have joined the rota during term times and during October 2007 a further 6 staff and 1 undergraduate undertook training to join the scheme. Five of these newest volunteers are now active in the scheme. |